New Girl
by dandelion657
Summary: AU. Kennedi Ford loved traveling and adventure. For a few years she has been training at the Ember academy, a ninja academy that teaches students how to control the element of fire. When her Sensei gives her a morpher days before the academy is attacked, what does the young girl decide to do? Good thing Kelly is a family friend. First in Mixed Hearts Series.
1. Time For a Change

**New Girl**

**Chapter 1: Time for a Change**

_A/N: AU. First in "Mixed Hearts" series. Based in Ninja Storm.__Kennedi Ford loves traveling and adventure. She and her family live in Reefside, where Kennedi trains as a fire ninja at the Ember academy. When it is attacked, her sensei gives her the one thing she needs to survive. Now that she needs to go to Blue Bay Harbor and help the other rangers, where will she go? Thank god Kelly is a family friend._

_This will start off in "I Love Lothor," but won't get into the fighting much yet. Things may be a little rushed, but that's how things will work. I don't know why I'm starting it so late in the season, but I just am. Anyway, I hope you like it._

_Italics are flashbacks._

_As promised, this is being posted today. Unlike my other two stories/series currently being worked on, this story will be **updated every two weeks ** on Saturdays, so the next update for this will be on July 13. I know it's kind of far away, but while you're waiting, go check out my other stories that will be more frequently updated. _

_Oh, and if this chapter is crappy, I apologize because this chapter was actually written many months ago, long before I started my Shattered Glass series._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not in the show. _

* * *

…_a few days earlier…_

"Something wrong, Sensei?" Shane asked as the six rangers were gathered around Ninja Ops. Sensei had called them all here saying something about some big news, and they were all wondering what exactly it was about. It was possible it was something ranger related, considering the odds of it not being about it ranger duties were kind of slim. It had been a couple months since the six rangers had began their ranger career, and things seemed to have fallen into an odd routine for them.

The guinea pig looked to his students. "Lothor has finally attacked the Ember Academy." The wind rangers frowned, Cam looked a bit confused, and the thunder ninjas grew worried.

"But father," Cam frowned. "Doesn't that academy have a better defense system?"

"Yes," Sensei nodded. "But it has weakened over time, and it was weakened enough for Lothor to attack. Like both of the academies, he has taken the ninjas and their Sensei hostage. One has managed to escape with the fire morpher." The only one who hadn't heard that part was Hunter, having left before Sensei finished his explanation.

"Wait back up," Dustin blinked. "Ember academy? As in, fire?"

Sensei nodded once more. "Not many are fit to be fire ninjas. The one who escaped was given a ranger morpher. I do not know which student this is yet, but in a few days I should receive word about the student."

"So," Tori drawled out slowly. "You're saying we have a new teammate who won't be here for a couple of days?"

Sensei nodded.

* * *

…_present day…_

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"I won't let you!"

"But I have to!" Kennedi argued with her twin sister. The dirty blonde and her twin Kira had a lot in common, aside from being completely identical. Well, their eye color was different and Kennedi liked orange where Kira liked yellow.

"Ken, why can't you tell me why you're leaving?" Kira whined.

"It's a secret," Kennedi shut her suitcases. She was moving to Blue Bay Harbor for a while. Everyone in the world knew the town had rangers and was fighting off an evil space Ninja known as Lothor. It was part of Kennedi's destiny to become one as well. She just had to leave that part out.

Her family was tight, being all girls. Her father died in a car accident when she and Kira were young, and since then, it's been the two and their mother. Both, for protective reasons, knew Kennedi attended a super secret ninja academy in Reefside, known as the Ember Academy. Students there were taught and trained in the element of fire. It was the most well protected of the three ninja schools. Because of that fact, Lothor wasn't able to attack it until a few days ago. Kennedi recalled the day clearly.

"_Our shields are falling," Sensei Huron spoke to a small crowd of ninja students. Not many were able to handle being a fire ninja. Kennedi was one of the lucky few who could, and was top of the class. "I feel he is coming."_

"_Who Sensei?" a brave student asked._

"_Lothor." _

_The name caused each ninja to freeze. They heard what happened to the other academies and knew that most of the students and Senseis were captured and held captive on Lothor's ship. It was sad for them to hear about. Now, it appeared they were next._

"_What can we do Sensei?" another student asked. The elder woman turned around with a box in her hands._

"_One of you must go and help the other ninja rangers defeat Lothor." Her voice was hard and serious. "Sensei Watanabe knows that I am sending one of you to help." It was silent as the news fell upon them. "Kennedi," the dirty blonde looked up at the sound of her name. "You must take this and go to Blue Bay Harbor when the time is right, and use it to fight against Lothor and his forces." Kennedi took the box and bowed._

"_I won't let you down Sensei."_

She didn't plan to. Now she had to go to Blue Bay Harbor and be a power ranger. She hadn't even morphed into the suit yet. Of course, she had a place to stay while there. The family friend Kelly Holloway, who owned a small sports shop in the city, offered to take her in for her stay. Now that she was ready to go, she couldn't waste another minute.

"Ken, we have no secrets," Kira pouted.

"Well this has to remain a secret," Kennedi walked downstairs. Kira followed her sister, still pouting. Mrs. Ford, or known as Katelyn Ford, was out at work. She wanted to be there to wish her daughter good bye and good luck, but her job wouldn't allow it. Either way, Kira was still there. "If I could tell you, I would, but I can't."

"At least call everyday so mom and I know you're not dead," Kira reasoned.

"Even if I died I'd still call," Kennedi laughed. From outside, the girls heard a horn beep. Kelly was here to take Kennedi away. "Well, that's my ride."

"Call to let me know you got there alright," Kira pleaded. She helped her sister with the luggage. Kelly helped the two girls load it into the car.

"Take care sis," Kennedi hugged her sister goodbye. Kira returned the hug and the two went their ways. Kennedi rode off with Kelly and Kira went back inside the house. It was going to be a long journey.

* * *

"Well, this is the shop," Kelly introduced Kennedi. The vibrant sports store was set up for some cooking demo that Kelly had explained and roped the dirty blonde into helping with. After all, despite being practically family, Kennedi was going to work off her stay by working in the shop. In return, Kelly was letting her stay with her in the loft above and sponsoring her softball team. "Now put an apron on and go get some of the other supplies."

"Can I at least put down my stuff upstairs first?" Kennedi wondered. They had just gotten here.

"Sorry," Kelly apologized. "But the demo starts in a couple of minutes." At that moment, a blonde wearing blue walked into the shop and over to the counter.

"Hey Kelly," she greeted.

Kelly smiled. "Hey Tori. Do you mind helping us set up for the demo?"

"Not a problem," Tori agreed. She went to help and spotted Kennedi. "Hey," she greeted. "I'm Tori."

"Kennedi," the girl returned. "Kennedi Ford." Something about that name struck Tori. After their last battle, Sensei had told them that a new ranger would be joining them soon, and had earlier today told Tori and Cam the name of the ranger, since the others were off doing what they loved. That's when Tori pieced it together.

She dropped her voice to a whisper. "You're a fire ninja, right?"

"Excuse me?" Kennedi blinked, a bit shocked. She looked at Tori and spotted a morpher on her wrist. "Oh, you're a water ninja." Tori smiled and nodded, knowing that this was the girl they had been waiting for. "But yeah, I am then."

"Sensei told us that you would be coming," Tori admitted. Kennedi sighed. She knew that Sensei Huron had told Sensei Watanabe that she was coming. "Maybe after this you could come with me to Ninja Ops and meet him."

"That'd be great," Kennedi grinned. She was starting to like this girl already. The two finished helping Kelly set up the demo. Tori was filling Kennedi in about the other rangers, such as names, colors, and elements. When she finished, the boys aside - from Hunter and Blake - walked in.

"Hey, what's this?" the boy Kennedi figured out to be Dustin asked.

"'Real Pro Sport Cook Off?'" Shane read the banner. They all turned to Kelly.

"Since when is cooking an action sport?" Dustin wondered.

"Real Sport Pro Drinks has chosen Storm Chargers to host a series of cooking demonstrations," Kelly explained, wiping her hands on a towel. She turned to Kennedi. "Ken, can you go grab the cups from the back room?"

"Sure Kel," Kennedi turned and walked to the storage room. Blake walked in at that moment, joining the others. He had to make sure Hunter was all right after what they learned earlier in the week.

"Dude this stuff is nasty," Dustin shook his head. "I don't care how you cook it."

"Stick around," Kennedi spoke as she popped up behind the counter. "You might be surprised." The guys frowned, wondering where she came from. Didn't she just head to the back room? Blake noticed her, smirking, which she returned.

"Hey," a boy in green called as he walked over to the group. Kennedi recognized him as Cam, from what Tori had told her. Cam took note of her as well, recognizing her. He already knew who Kennedi was, having met her once when the two academies had met before.

"Cam?" Shane chuckled. "You're taking cooking?"

"Look, Tori wanted someone to take the class with her," Cam shrugged. "And dad said I needed to get out more, so here I am."

"Yeah but cooking class?" Shane continued. A group of girls walked in, causing the boys to turn their way.

Cam smirked. "It has its advantages." That's when the other boys caught on.

"Dude's got a point," Dustin realized. Cam and Tori took a seat in the front row. Shane and Dustin sat behind them, talking to the women. Blake stood by the counter and turned to Kennedi.

"What are you doing in town?"

"Ain't it obvious, Bradley?" she rolled her eyes. Yes, she knew the Bradley brothers, having raced against them on the tracks before and having met them a few times from when their academies worked together on techniques. Hunter and Kennedi had even started going out, it coming close to their one year anniversary. "So, where's my boyfriend?"

"Trying to make sure you're alive," Blake stated. "He got pretty upset when he heard your academy was attacked. He's been trying to call you for a few days."

Kennedi frowned and pulled out her phone, checking for messages. "Well, I guess I've been too busy to hear it. I mean, I had to get school transfer papers, had to pack, had to make sure my letter got sent, and had to figure out how to operate the morpher."

"Hey, for all he knows, you're up on Lothor's ship."

* * *

Hunter wanted to be alone. He hadn't been around the others aside from Blake over the past few days. Ever since learning that the Ember Academy had been attacked, his mind had been plagued with thoughts that his girlfriend had been taken hostage onto Lothor's ship. He had missed the part that a ranger from the academy would be coming to help them. All he could think about was how to get his girlfriend off of Lothor's ship.

The blonde had headed for the track instead of joining the others at Storm Chargers. He just wanted to be alone and only Blake knew why. He had made attempts to call his girlfriend, but she never answered or replied. It only added to his fears that she was indeed on Lothor's ship, and that it would be a while before he saw her again. As far as he knew, no one from the Ember Academy escaped Lothor's attack, including his girlfriend.

Hunter sighed as he began another lap around the track. His attention was grabbed by something orange flashing before him. He looked up and his eyes widened as he saw another rider wearing orange gear speed by him. There was only one person he knew who had orange motocross gear, and he was praying that this wasn't an illusion. Deciding to check it out, he picked up the speed. He couldn't tell who it was from behind, but he was hoping it was the person he was thinking of.

When the other racer crossed the finish line, Hunter saw them pull off the track and park on the side. He did the same, parking his bike next to where the other rider had. The thunder ninja removed his helmet and looked around for the rider, the bike was still there, but the rider wasn't in sight. Hunter thought it was an illusion, but seeing the bike still there made him question it. He got off of his bike and looked around, trying to find the rider.

As he stepped closer to the bike, he felt something jump on his back, nearly tackling him down. "Miss me?"

Hunter set the person on his back down and turned to face her. "I thought you were on Lothor's ship."

"Well, clearly, I'm not," Kennedi smiled up at him. She had left the cooking demo after Blake and Cam had started a food fight, not wanting to get caught in it.

"How do I know this isn't an illusion?" he narrowed his eyes, getting the sense this could be his mind playing tricks on him. Kennedi smirked and leaned up and kissed him, which he gladly returned.

"Now do you think I'm an illusion?"

Hunter pulled her closer and held her tight. "I was so worried you were on his ship."

"I managed to escape that," she replied. "The others of my academy didn't, though. I'm the only one who's not up there."

"How did you manage to get out?" he asked.

"With a little help from this," she showed him the morpher. Hunter's eyes widened a bit. He never expected his girlfriend to get a morpher. "Sensei gave it to me a few days before the academy was attacked. Told me to come here and find the other rangers. I've already met Tori, and she figured out who I am, and so did Cam, and once I saw Blake I figured he was one and you probably were as well."

"How did Tori and Cam know?" Hunter frowned, confused. "I mean, Blake I understand, but…"

Kennedi shrugged. "Cam delivered a few things between the academies a few times, and I was the one who always let him in. Tori told me that your mentor said you were expecting me, but it seems as if you are confused."

"Because he didn't tell us who was coming," Hunter stated. "I didn't know anyone was coming from your academy."

"Well, I'm here now, and I'm here to help," Kennedi smiled.

Hunter smiled back and kissed her.

* * *

A/N: Ending this one here. Hope you all liked up. Up next is the final part of I Love Lothor, and I'm not sure what to do for that one.

A few things to know:

Hunter and Kennedi are already in a relationship, and how they got into it will be explained in a later chapter.

Kennedi is a fire ninja and will appear as a ranger soon.

I plan for Kira to make another appearance or two in future chapters.

This story probably will have somewhere between 15-20 chapters.


	2. I Love Lothor

**New Girl**

**Chapter 2: I Love Lothor**

_A/N: Last time, Kennedi left her mother and her sister to become a power ranger in Blue Bay Harbor. Her twin and mother don't know the exact reason, but they know it has to do with her being a ninja. Kennedi is dating Hunter, and he, along with Blake, Tori and Cam, know that she is their new teammate, Tori and Cam having heard about her from Sensei, and Blake and Hunter having known her for a while. Shane and Dustin have no idea who Kennedi is and have not met Kennedi yet. _

_What'll happen now?_

_This chapter might be a little short._

_Also, since this was posted on a Friday, it will be updated on Fridays every other week, so next update is either July 26 (if I have time before the Taylor Swift concert), or the next day._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

After meeting at the track, the two ninjas had headed back over to Storm Chargers. Hunter felt better now that he knew his girlfriend was alive and safe. The two decided to enter through separate entrances to the store. Hunter entered through the front of the store, taking a seat with Shane and Dustin. Tori, Blake, and Cam were nowhere in sight. The red and yellow rangers began questioning why they hadn't seen the crimson ranger in a few days. Kennedi entered from the back of the store, heading up to the loft to unpack.

"Dude, where have you been?" Shane wondered, keeping his voice low. "Tori said that the new ranger showed up today, and Cam confirmed it."

"Yeah," Dustin agreed. "They said it was some girl that was here earlier but left."

"I was at the track," Hunter shrugged, figuring they didn't need to know about his relationship. "Where are the others?"

"Something weird is going on with them," Dustin answered. "Blake and Cam started acting weird around Tori."

"They started a food fight and we haven't seen them since," Shane added.

Kelly cut their conversation short, resuming the cooking demo. "And now we'll be following the Real Sport Executive Chef's appearance on the cooking channel." She pressed a button on the remote to turn the TV on. Shane, Dustin, and Hunter were a bit anxious, especially once they saw what was on the screen. Kelly tried changing the channel from the show Lothor was broadcasting. It did nothing, and the show remained on.

"I read the TV listings every week," Dustin told his teammates, keeping his voice low. "And I'm pretty sure this wasn't in there."

"Let's go," Shane decided. The three got up and left the store, hoping to get to the bottom of this. After they left, the show began, and the girls in the store found themselves becoming entranced by what they were seeing.

Kelly sighed. "I never noticed how handsome Lothor is."

"I want to meet him," the girl sitting beside her spoke. "Right now." Sharing a look, all the girls got up and ran out of the store, running to the studio where the show was being filmed.

Kennedi walked back into the room and noticed it was empty and the TV was on. "Okay…"

* * *

Considering there was no one around the store, Kennedi decided to lock it up and go explore the town. She was hoping that by doing so, she would stumble into Ninja Ops or run into Tori. The blonde surfer had promised to show her it later, having discovered Kennedi was their new teammate. However, since the blonde was nowhere to be found, Kennedi decided she would try and find it on her own.

As she was walking, exploring the rather big city, she saw a crowd of girls run by, carrying posters that said something Kennedi couldn't make out. She shrugged it off, figuring something that had a lot of fans was going on. The dirty blonde continued her walk around, passing by the local TV studio. A blur of blonde and blue came crashing into her as she passed by, sending both girls to the ground.

"Sorry," Tori apologized, seeing that she landed on Kennedi. "I'm kind of in a hurry."

"Something wrong?" Kennedi asked.

Tori, knowing why Kennedi had come to town, nodded. "Alien at the beach. Town is under a spell. Ready for your first fight?"

"Why not?" she shrugged. Together, the two girls streaked off, heading for the beach.

* * *

When the two girls had gotten to the beach, they saw Cam and Blake in their ranger uniforms, fighting each other instead of the alien. They hid behind a few rocks, watching for a moment. They shared a look, and almost as if they had a telepathic connection, they made a plan. Tori ran out into the middle of the fight, trying to get the boys to fight the alien and not each other. Kennedi snuck around so she was behind the alien.

When she was in position, she looked at her morpher, and let out a sigh. _Please work! _With a final breath, she morphed. "Ember Storm, Ranger Form!" She watched the fight carefully, waiting for her opening to make her move. She saw Tori morph just in time to be protected a bit from the blasts the alien sent her way. Both guys noticed this and moved to her side. Kennedi decided this would be a good time to make her move.

"What?" Mr. Ratwell cried as Kennedi struck him from behind. She wasn't quick enough to stop him from hurting Blake and Cam, but she prevented them from getting hurt further. "Another ranger?"

"I'm kinda sad I wasn't invited to the party sooner," Kennedi faced him. "Then again, I'm not really sure it would've been worth it."

"This isn't in the script!" the alien growled. He moved to shoot her down, but Kennedi was quicker. She drew her bow and took aim, shooting him back before he could do the same.

"I'm rewriting it," she smirked. She charged again, taking on the alien one on one. Tori was struggling to sit up, and Cam and Blake had moved to help her, wondering about the new ranger. They already knew who it was, but their minds were too clouded by the spell they were put under to really focus. Tori looked up and saw Kennedi fighting the alien alone and faring pretty well for her first time in the suit. The two guys got shot back.

Tori noticed this and decided to try and break them out of the spell. "Cam, Blake, you're under a spell! You've got to fight it!" She tried standing only to fall down again.

"This is no spell!" Cam denied. He fell as he tried getting back up.

"My feelings are real," Blake declared. "And I'm going to prove it!" he stood shakily on his feet. Mr. Ratwell knocked Kennedi away toward Tori, hitting her as hard as he hit the other girl. Blake stood in front of Tori.

"Come on, you love sick stooge!" he taunted. "Show me what you've got!"

"Blake, don't!" Tori looked up at the boy in front of her.

"I'll protect you, Tori," Blake vowed.

The alien rolled his eyes. "How heroic. He fired at Blake before Kennedi could interfere again. Blake was hit, but he refused to go down. His weapon fell near Cam, and the alien fired again. Tori opened her visor, and Blake took all the hits. "What? Now I'm getting mad!" he shot again, and Blake picked Tori up and threw her to the side, getting her out of harm's way. Blake braced himself for impact and took the hit once more. To everyone's surprise, he was still standing. "Impossible! Nobody can be that strong!"

"Nothing can beat the power of love," Blake stated. He began slowly moving forward. Kennedi was hiding from sight, waiting to attack again. Blake took hold of the alien's wrist, preventing him from firing. The weapon was dropped. "This is for you, Tori!" Blake sent the alien flying back.

"Okay Blake," Cam sighed. "You win." He spotted Blake's weapon and tossed it to the ranger. "Catch!" Blake drew his staff and his other weapon fused with it. He aimed a direct hit onto the alien, destroying him.

Tori looked to the orange ranger beside her, who was now in the same position. "You okay?"

"It's gonna take a while getting used to," Kennedi nodded. "You?"

"I've seen worse," she let out a sigh of relief. Blake turned to tell Tori something, but both girls noticed a pink heart float out and pop in front of him. The same thing happened to Cam as he finally managed to get to his feet.

"Tori!" Shane called as he, Dustin, and Hunter, morphed, arrived on scene. Hunter saw the new ranger and went to help her up as the other two boys helped Tori. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Tori replied. Her visor was still open as the two girls were helped to their feet.

"What happened?" Shane asked.

Tori shook her head. "I don't know. But we got worked." At that, the two girls fell forward, the guys catching them. The other two rangers ran to check on them. Shane and Dustin still had no idea who the orange ranger was, but they knew they would learn soon enough. Out of nowhere, the alien reappeared, this time larger than before.

"Whoa," Kennedi went wide eyed as the two girls were pulled back.

"We'll handle this one," Blake assured. "Right Cam?"

"Yeah," the green ranger nodded. "He's all ours. Come on!" the two summoned their zords. Hunter joined his brother, and Dustin helped keep Kennedi standing. He figured since she was in a ranger suit and standing with them and not trying to hurt them that she was on their side. The fact that Sensei said their new teammate would be an orange ranger helped.

As the four watched the megazord fight, Dustin looked to Kennedi. "So… you're the ranger from the fire academy?"

"Ember Academy," Kennedi corrected. "And yes, I am. Introductions will have to wait." She was too focused on the battle in front of her, wondering about what the machines were.

* * *

After the fight, Tori and Kennedi had felt a bit better. They made it to Ninja Ops on their own and ahead of the guys, causing them to question if they were as injured as they thought. Kennedi had demoprhed and briefly gave and introduction to the two guys who hadn't met her before. Following that, Tori linked her arms in the other girl's and the two streaked off. Tori had shown Kennedi how to get in to Ninja Ops and introduced her to Sensei, briefly explaining the situation with the guinea pig thing.

By the time the guys, as in Cam and Blake, had gotten there, Kennedi and Tori were sitting on pillows on the table, chatting away as if they were old friends. Cam plopped down on a green pillow and laid back. Kennedi had already gotten things squared away with Sensei about what she needed to do and what accepting the powers meant. Blake sat between Tori and Cam, closing off the square.

A few minutes later, Cam groaned and sat up. "If this is a love hangover, I hope I never fall in love again." This ceased the conversation between the two girls.

"I hear that," Blake muttered. He noticed the look on Tori's face change. "Oh, um, I mean, at least not while under a spell." Kennedi bit back her laughter watching Blake try to make it seem like he didn't mean it.

"So, what were you going to tell me when you said it's time for her to know the truth?" Tori questioned him. Kennedi couldn't help but burst into laughter then. Tori had told her about her crush on the navy ranger, and Kennedi could tell by the earlier fight that Blake felt the same way.

"Um…"

"A peace offering," Shane interrupted as he and Hunter entered, the latter carrying a tray of fried chicken. "To welcome our new teammate and since your cooking class kinda got messed up…"

"Homemade and from the heart," Hunter added.

Kennedi stopped laughing and frowned. "Okay, I know I haven't been here that long, but I doubt any of you _guys _know how to cook." The she thought of something. "Except for maybe him," she added as an afterthought, pointing to Cam.

"Fried chicken?" Tori raised an eyebrow as Hunter set the tray on the table. "I agree with her. There's something wrong. This actually looks edible."

"Who ordered takeout?" Dustin called, entering and carrying a bunch of boxes. "I'm starved." Hunter and Shane looked surprised that their plan backfired.

"Since when does homemade food come in a bucket?" both girls questioned.

* * *

A/N: Not as long as I had hoped, but longer than I thought it would be. So Kennedi is a part of the team now, and sorry if it seemed kind of rushed. I just felt like getting that over with because I was starting so late in the season. Anyway, what'll happen next?

Also, thank you to those who read, reviewed, or both, favorited, followed, etc.


	3. Good Will Hunter

**New Girl**

**Chapter 3: Good Will Hunter**

_A/N: Last time, Kennedi joined the team. Tori is happy to have another girl on the team and another girl to talk to aside from Kelly. Kennedi is glad to have another girl to talk to besides her sister. No one but Blake and Kelly knows Hunter and Kennedi are dating, but the others will learn soon enough. Anyway, now that Kennedi is officially a part of the team, what will happen?_

**_New poll regarding this series is up on my profile! _**_While I don't plan on including a megaforce and samurai story to this series, I did put options for that in the poll. You'll see what I mean once you check it out._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

It was almost a week later, and Kennedi found herself fitting in with the other rangers rather well. Aside from motocross, she wasn't much into action sports. She would watch them if she had friends competing in them. She played other sports as well, but they were more organized sports and involved teams. Kelly had gotten her set up with a job at the sports shop, and she learned she would be working with Hunter, Blake, and Dustin.

Over the course of the days that passed, Kennedi and Tori had become practically sisters. The two had instantly clicked and the boys found it a bit unnerving that the girls had clicked so easily and had become friends as fast as they did. Blake was still the only one who knew about Hunter and Kennedi dating. He wasn't going to say a word about it, figuring that they would tell the others when they wanted to.

At the moment, most of the team was at Storm Chargers helping close up for the day. Hunter and Kennedi were finishing up placing clothes back on the racks as Blake moved to flip the sign on the door. Dustin was on his phone and Tori was wiping down the counter. "Quittin' time," the navy ranger called. "So, are we riding?" he walked over to his brother and Kennedi.

"I got practice," Kennedi added. Within the week, she had heard of tryouts for the local softball team and went to it, making the team. Her ranger duties would most likely interfere with it, but it was a risk she was willing to take.

"What sports team you on now?" Blake frowned.

"Blue Bay softball," Kennedi replied. "Made the cut, and first practice is today."

"I can't, bro," Hunter replied. "I gotta meet Charlie."

"Oh yeah," Blake nodded. "Your other little brother."

Dustin came over after overhearing the comment. "What, there are more of you guys?"

"Not that kind of brother," Hunter assured. "I know what it's like to be without a father, so I volunteered to help out after school, ya know? Do stuff." Shane crashed into the window from outside, holding a magazine and grinning about something.

"Check it out," he walked in after getting their attention. Tori came over to join them. "Big Air's having a contest for the best sports action video."

"Let's see," the surfer took it. "'The best one minute video will be played on national television during the next Action Games.'"

"Oh sweet," Dustin looked at it. "I am so going to win."

Shane appeared skeptical. "Uh, don't you mean you're so going to come second?"

"No, dude," Dustin flipped through the magazine, not yet understanding. "I mean I'm going to win." It took him another moment to realize what the red ranger meant. "Oh, I get it. You're calling me out." Shane nodded.

"I don't know how any of you are gonna win anything without a video camera," Kennedi piped up.

"What about Dustin's?" Shane suggested.

Tori smirked. "Well, if I remember correctly," she turned to the boy beside her. "You taped it to your helmet right before you crashed into that big oak tree."

"Yeah," Dustin bit his lip. "But I got a cool shot."

"Yeah," Blake rolled his eyes. "So uh…Cam's got a camera."

"Oh," Shane agreed, getting an idea. Dustin noticed this and chased the boy out of the store, the two running in a mad dash to reach the green ranger first, nearly knocking over a woman and her son on the way. Tori rolled her eyes and followed.

"I'm gonna go make sure they don't kill each other," Kennedi sighed. "Later dudes." She left after the others.

* * *

Five of the seven rangers ran into ninja ops, four of them eagerly trying to reach Cam. Kennedi could care less about the video contest and refused to get into the argument. The other four stumbling over each other, causing slight commotion. Cam turned from his spot near the table and frowned at the jumbled mess of rangers. "Cam, can I borrow your video camera?" Shane asked as soon as he saw the computer genius.

"Dude, I called it in the car!" Dustin whined.

"Dustin did man, I heard it," Blake backed him up. "After that, it's all mine."

"Get real," Tori scoffed.

Cam sat there, confused and amused at the same time. "Hold it," he interrupted. "Just wait a minute. No one's calling anything until I know what's up." Shane handed him the magazine.

"Check out page five," he instructed. As Cam did so, the other five took seats on the floor in front of him, waiting patiently for him to finish reading.

"Okay, I'll do it," he agreed. "But I have some conditions. One – nobody touches my camera but me. I saw the results of your last outing on _When Good Riders Go Bad_," he mentioned to Dustin. "And two – everyone gets equal time on their video. I can't stand all of this begging."

Dustin raised his hand and spoke when Cam pointed to him. "Can I go to the bathroom?"

"No way," Cam denied.

* * *

Everyone but Hunter and Kennedi soon found themselves standing by the skate ramp near the beach. Shane was filming his section of the video. Cam was filming it for him, holding the camera as steady as he could. Tori sat on the rail that separated the beach from the parking lot. The boys stood near them, watching and waiting. "Come on already," Tori mumbled. Shane ended by sliding onto his knees.

"That was great," Cam commented. "I think I got some good shots."

"Yeah?" Shane questioned. "Better than what you got for Blake and Dustin?" Cam rolled his eyes as the others moved toward them. "Okay, give me one more try, man. I know I can land the kick flip to front side rail slide."

"Can we go now?" Tori huffed. "I've got to get in the water before the swell dies down."

"We haven't even been here long, man," Shane argued. "What about equal time?" The morphers went off.

"Saved by the bell," Cam muttered.

* * *

After leaving Ninja Ops, Kennedi had headed straight for the ball fields so she wouldn't miss her first practice. She had her equipment with her, having brought it with her from Reefside. She had been playing softball since she was old enough to, and aside from motocross which she did for fun, it was her favorite sport. When she got there, she saw most of her new teammates already there, waiting for their coach.

The coach arrived shortly after Kennedi did, and the practice got started. The girls did their stretches and warm up before practicing catching. Following that, they practiced throwing and hitting. Their coach was trying to see what areas the girls needed help with and what areas some excelled in. Kennedi was wondering how the others were doing with filming their videos and how Hunter was doing with Charlie. Practice ended, and the girls gathered up their things. Kennedi never heard her morpher, which was in her bag, go off.

Kennedi laughed at a joke one of her teammates made as they all headed for their cars. The dirty blonde spotted Hunter there, and walked over to him. She smiled and gave him a kiss before they moved to get into his truck. "How was the first practice?" he asked as they pulled away.

"Not bad," Kennedi shrugged. "They all seem rather nice, and the coach seemed pretty cool…he was kinda hot, too."

"I thought softball was coached by women?" Hunter frowned.

Kennedi shook her head. "Men can coach it. My uncle coaches the Reefside team. And, well, the guy who is my coach now is sorta an uncle, since he was one of my actual uncle's friends who helped him and my mom take care of me and my sister…yeah it's complicated. So, how'd things go with Charlie?"

"Honestly," Hunter sighed. "Not too good. It doesn't seem like he really wants to do anything."

"Like what?" the orange ranger wondered.

"He said no to playing any sport I suggested," Hunter listed. "He's allergic to pizza, and he just wanted to play a video game by himself."

"Stick with it," she shrugged. "Maybe he'll come around."

* * *

The next day was thankfully a day with no school. Kennedi had an early morning softball practice, which Hunter had given her a ride to. To pass time, Hunter had gone to Storm Chargers, where he ran into Blake. The two talked a bit. At the end of her practice, Kennedi heard her morpher go off. She didn't wear it when she was practicing, not wanting others to see it and question what it was. She quickly said goodbye to her teammates and ran off toward the battle that was about to happen.

She had slipped her morpher on and morphed on her way over, avoiding being seen. She ran into Hunter and Blake on the way. Both boys were also morphed. When the three spotted the alien, they streaked by him with their swords drawn, attacking. "I'm getting rocked in the middle of this music block," the alien grumbled.

"Who is this radio head?" Blake demanded.

"He thinks he's Johnny Love," Hunter scoffed.

"Don't touch that dial 'cause DJ Drummond is coming at you with five thousand watts of p-p-power!" the alien called. He fired at the three, all of them getting hit with the current. They fell down onto the ground just as a morphed Shane, Tori, and Dustin made it onto the scene. The three wind rangers made a move, only to be hit and fall to the ground as well. Just as they all got up, the alien vanished.

"Hey," Kennedi looked around. "Where'd he go?"

"He just…vanished," Tori frowned.

"What's up with that?" Dustin huffed. "It's so weird."

Hunter turned to his teammates. "Let me know when you figure it out. I, uh, gotta be somewhere." He ran off.

* * *

"I think I should consider a career in cinematography," Cam commented as he stood in front of the mainframe in Ninja Ops. Dustin, Blake, and Kennedi stood behind him, watching the tape of the three motocross riders racing. The two boys had managed to convince Kennedi to help them out, figuring they'd do better with three riders in the video than just two. Blake and Dustin didn't seem too impressed, but Kennedi thought the video turned out fine.

"I don't know dude," Dustin sighed. "The video's just not blowing me away."

"Yeah yeah yeah," Blake agreed. "But check out this cool power slide."

"Well, at least you got one killer shot," Dustin pointed out.

Blake nodded. "But it takes more than one killer shot to make a video."

"Maybe we should head back out there," Dustin suggested. "You up for it, Cam?" Dustin went to pat his shoulder, only for his hand to go right through the boy.

"Uh, what just happened?" Kennedi asked as Cam dissipated into the air.

Cam came up behind the three. "Sorry guys. I had some real work to do." He stepped up to the computer. "Now what were you saying?"

The three standing behind him shared a look.

* * *

A while later, everyone but Hunter was in Ninja Ops. Kennedi didn't want to be there, but she wanted to see how her friends' tapes turned out. The dirty blonde figured that she would be there to help them if they needed it, and she was still trying to get to know the others a bit better. She already knew Blake and Tori, but it was Shane, Dustin, and Cam that she wanted to learn a little more about. "So," Shane spoke in as he came to join the others around the table. "How'd your tapes turn out?" He noticed the faces. "About as good as mine?"

"I think all my best moves are in the first ten seconds," Tori sighed.

"Mine too," Blake agreed. Cam, who was at the mainframe, stood and walked over. "The rest is just tired."

"Let me get this straight," Cam got their attention. "After all the hard work from yours truly, no one's happy?"

"We're not saying it's your fault," Dustin stated. "I mean, we just didn't think it'd be so hard to make a rockin' video."

Sensei spoke from his spot on the table. "Rangers, this is not new territory. Have you not learned by now the value of working as one?"

"Dad, may I?" Cam interrupted. Sensei nodded as Cam looked to the others. "You guys ever hear the term 'editing?'" The computer began beeping, alerting them to the attack in the city. They all ran over to it to find Marah and Kapri fighting over Lothor's PAM.

"What's that?" Kennedi asked.

"They got Lothor's P.A.M," Tori answered. The picture showed the quarry and the alien appearing.

"Whoa, that's freaky," Dustin commented.

"Get the bikes and I'll meet you there," Cam instructed.

* * *

After the fight was over, the ranger team found themselves relaxing in Storm Chargers. All of them aside from Hunter were sitting on the couches waiting for the winning contest video to play during the action games. None of them had seen the final piece Cam submitted, but they trusted the green ranger knew what he was doing. Hunter was in the back fixing up a bike and talking to Charlie, having found a common interest with the boy. "Dude, it's on!" Blake called to Hunter.

Hunter and Charlie ran over to join them, taking seats on the floor since the couch was full. The video began showing the motocross riders racing around the track. Shane's clips of him skateboarding followed that. It then showed Tori surfing before cutting back to the motocross riders. Shane was shown once more and it cut back to motocross before showing Tori standing with her surfboard, Blake removing his helmet and the two participating in their sport. It ended with Shane showing a thumbs up to the screen.

"_And once again that was the winning video from the kids in Blue Bay Harbor."_

The rangers cheered. "We killed it," Dustin grinned.

"Have to give Cam some of the credit," Kennedi spoke up.

"Thank you," Cam smiled.

"Yeah, but the moto stuff was the sickest, no?" Blake high fived his brother.

"Uh, dude," Shane looked at him. "Did you see the skating?"

"Nothing we ain't ever seen before," Blake scoffed.

Kennedi and Tori laughed as the boys got into an argument over what portion of the video was better.

* * *

A/N: Sorry if this chapter is crap. I realized a couple of things.

1: the announcer at the end who says the winning video sounds and looks kind of like Hayley from Dino Thunder.

2: I have an idea for Dino Thunder in this series that I really can't wait to get to.

3: If I write every remaining episode in Ninja Storm from this point, this story is going to have 20 chapters.

I am going to write all (or most) of the remaining episodes, but some that are two part episodes will be in one chapter (such as General Deception), and there might be one or two episodes I don't include. Over all, this story will have _no more than_ 20 chapters no matter what.


	4. All About Beevil

**New Girl**

**Chapter 4: All About Beevil**

_A/N: Last time, Kennedi helped in the fight against the DJ monster. Hunter helped mentor a young boy who lost his father. Kennedi joined the local softball team and loves the sport. The rangers made a sports action video for a contest for the video to be shown on TV and it won. What'll happen now? Also, this is probably the first time I've written this episode and have actually followed the episode, so if it sucks, I apologize._

___Two reasons I'm posting this chapter now: 1) I planned on updating a few stories tomorrow, but then I realized me and my friend who is like my sister are going to be spending all day getting ready for the Taylor Swift concert, so I won't have time to update. 2) I want to mention a new story idea I got from playing a video game, and it's going to be an odd mashup of monsters that an odd combination of rangers fight off while dealing with two other jobs each. Want more info on what I mean by that? Then look under my profile for a story called **Criminal Heroes. **_

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

"Come on, Ken," Alison, one of Kennedi's softball teammates, urged. "Join us for smoothies. There's this nice little place the next town over and I heard they're really good." The team was just finishing up another practice before their game later in the afternoon and Kennedi had made friends with everyone on the team quickly. They were all packing up and getting ready to leave the field.

"Sorry girls," Kennedi sighed. "But I got work, and I'm already running a bit late."

"You sure?" Grace raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Kennedi nodded. "Maybe next time, though."

Valerie nodded. "We get it. We'll just force you to go with us next time." The four girls started heading toward their cars. "How else are we going to get you to come along?"

"Knock me out and drag me away," Kennedi chuckled. "Carpool…want me to continue?"

"You've made your point," Valerie shook her head, amused.

"So word is tomorrow's game is against your old team," Alison continued. "Care to share a bit?"

Kennedi bit her lip. "They're good. Not sure if they're better than us, but they are good. My sister is on that team, and she's just as good as I am. That's all I'm saying."

"You have a sister?" Grace went wide eyed. "Younger? Older?"

"Twin," Kennedi answered. "Completely identical. Only way to tell us apart is our eye color. Mine are green, hers are brown. I'm more of the tomboy, and she's not a girly girl, but she's not really into playing sports either, the exception being softball."

"Do you guys have different career goals?" Valerie wondered.

"Same ones," Kennedi shook her head. "Both of us want to become famous rock stars."

"Well, let us know if you ever get a gig somewhere," Alison stated as they walked off in another direction.

"Will do!" the ninja assured as she climbed into her car and drove away.

* * *

Kennedi didn't bother changing out of her practice clothes when she got to Storm Chargers. She was a bit late, but she got to work right away. Kelly didn't seem to notice, having grown used to her employees disappearing without an excuse of some sort. The orange ranger knew her boyfriend, Blake, and Dustin were at the track, and she figured Tori and Shane were out doing what they loved while Cam was in Ninja Ops as usual. She spotted Dustin, Tori, and Shane in the back of the store, talking.

"Dude, you just gave him your bike?" Shane wondered, looking shocked at the yellow ranger.

"He seemed cool," Dustin defended himself.

"Dustin," Tori sighed. "When are you going to realize that not everyone deserves your trust?"

"Maybe someone at the tracks heard of this guy," Dustin mused. "I'm going to go find out." He got up and left as Kennedi walked into the room.

* * *

After lunch, Kennedi found herself back at the softball field, warming up with her team before the first game of the season. She saw the other team doing the same on their side of the field and spotted her sister. There was a small battle earlier, but before Shane, Tori, Dustin, and Kennedi could do anything, Beevil was gone. Kennedi had taken off quickly so she wouldn't be late getting to the game. Tori told her that they would meet her over there later to watch it.

As the teams headed back to the bench, Kennedi saw most of her friends arriving and taking seats in the bleachers. Kelly was already there, talking to her coach's wife. The only one she didn't see was Dustin, but she shrugged it off, figuring he was running late. Everyone on the softball team was grabbing their gloves and putting their mouth guards in, getting ready to take the field since they were the home team.

"Ally, left field," Coach Taylor instructed. "Grace, right field, Val, second base, Christa, first base, Han, third base, Sam, center field, Pat, short stop, Jen, catcher, and Ken, pitcher. Let's hustle!"

The girls ran out onto their spots on the field, Kennedi taking the pitcher's mound and warming up with a few pitches. From the corner of her eyes, she could see the other team getting ready to bat. The crowds cheered as the first batter made her way to the plate, signaling the start of the game.

In the stands, Tori, Shane, Hunter, Blake, and even Cam sat watching, wondering a bit about their teammate. They didn't realize she had played softball, that being her sport. All of them had their own, and it turned out that softball was Kennedi's. Of course, Hunter and Blake knew, but they had never actually seen her play a game before. None of them had any idea where Dustin was, but they were more focused on watching what was happening before them to worry about that.

Kennedi threw the first pitch. The batter swung and missed. The same thing happened until the first and second batters had struck out. Then a girl who looked exactly like Kennedi stepped to the plate. Kennedi smirked, and the rangers could see it. They couldn't see the smirk the batter had. Kennedi threw the pitch, and this time, the person at bat hit it. The ball soared through the air and over the fence that lined the outfield. As the batter ran the bases, the rangers could faintly see Kennedi smirking and flipping the batter off.

"Why would she be flipping the batter off?" Shane wondered. "It doesn't make sense."

"It does to me," Tori shrugged. None of them were paying attention to the resemblances between the batter and Kennedi. "Ken's from Reefside, and she's playing against the Reefside team. She used to play for them, so it doesn't surprise me that she's joking around like that."

"She just struck someone out," Cam told the two. The teams retreated to their dugouts and the Blue Bay team got ready to bat. The batter that got the homerun for the opposing team was pitching, and she managed to mimic Kennedi's actions. When it was Kennedi's turn to bat, the dirty blonde smirked as she stepped up to the plate. The pitcher pitched the ball, and Kennedi swung, hitting the ball over the fence. The pitcher rolled her eyes and flipped Kennedi off as she ran the bases. Kennedi stuck her tongue out at the pitcher.

Blake shook his head. "I'm getting confused by this point."

* * *

After the game, which ended up being a Blue Bay victory, Kennedi stayed behind to help clean up the field. It was tradition that at least one member from each team stay behind and tidy up the field for the next game. A couple other girls from her team and three girls from the opposing team stayed. Kennedi and her look-a-like on the other team were heading to the supply shed to get what they would need. "Did you really have to flip me off, Kira?" Kennedi asked.

"Hey, you flipped me off first," Kira shoved her twin playfully. "Besides, you guys still came out on top."

"We're just that good," Kennedi smirked.

"Or lucky," Kira chuckled.

"So where did Uncle Jason go?" Kennedi wondered. Their uncle was the coach for the Reefside team. "I wanted to talk to him before he left."

Kira shrugged. "He said something about him and Aunt Trini going out for drinks with your coach and your coach's wife because they were old friends. That's pretty much all I got out of it."

"Meh," Kennedi huffed. "How's things in Reefside?"

"Kind of awkward," Kira admitted. "Principal Menard is retiring, so next year we'll have a new principal. Hopefully whoever the new principal is will let us play on school grounds. By the way, I've worked out some of the melody for the lyrics you sent me."

"You'll have to send me what it would sound like," Kennedi hoped. "And next time you're in town, we'll have to try it out."

"Yeah, definitely."

* * *

Kennedi was not happy as she found herself walking with the others into Ninja Ops early the next morning. Cam had called them here because he found Dustin sneaking in and trying to do something an hour earlier. When they got there, Dustin stood near Cam and immediately launched into an explanation of why he's been spacing out the past few days. "I'm telling you," he concluded. "Marah wants to change. And I believe her."

"Man, did you miss the whole Choobo thing?" Blake smacked his shoulder. "He told us the same thing and it ended up being a trap."

"How do we know it's not a bomb or a tracking device?" Tori added.

"Lothor's goons can't be trusted," Hunter agreed. Kennedi, who was probably the most tired out of everyone there at the moment, was leaning on him, catching a few words here and there.

"Marah's not a goon," Dustin argued. "She's just a little confused."

Kennedi yawned as she spoke. "Dude, you are _so _into her."

"No I'm not," Dustin shook his head. "I mean, she's kinda cute, but…no, she – she really wants to help us." The mainframe beeped, and they all turned to it.

"We shall see," Sensei ended the argument. "Beevil has returned."

* * *

Six of the seven rangers left Ninja Ops right away to go fight off Beevil. Dustin lagged behind to do what he needed to do. The others didn't trust this plan, and they all believed Marah was using him. They just hoped he would realize it before it was too late. When Beevil appeared, the six rangers stood, swords at the ready. "Well, well, well," Beevil spoke. "Six little rangers all in a row. Kelzak Furies!"

The red clad Kelzaks appeared in front of them, prompting Tori to comment. "Nice suits. I bet we still kick your butts.

The Kelzaks charged, and the rangers took them on. As usual, they separated into separate groups, each of them taking on a certain amount of Kelzaks. Hunter was the first to realize the improvement. "Whoa! These guys must be super-charged!" No matter what any of them tried, they were the ones to eventually be thrown back to each other.

"I'm evil with a capital B!" Beevil smirked. Out of nowhere, a blast came that knocked all of the Kelzak Furies down. The rangers rose to their knees as a brunette in regular clothes approached from the smoke. Beevil recognized her. "What's the deal, Marah?"

"I'm not here for a quilting bee, Beevil," Marah stated, acting deadly serious. "I'm gonna take you down."

"Give it your best shot!" the alien challenged.

The rangers could only sit back and watch as Marah attempted to take on the alien.

* * *

The fight ended as it usually did. Before Beevil had a chance to seriously injure Marah, Dustin appeared with the device, fully charged. He tossed it to Marah and she attacked Beevil with it, making it seem like the alien was destroyed. The others ran over to them, and a moment later, Marah turned the tables, proving she was never their ally. Beevil sprung back to life, and the fight was once again on. Tori and Kennedi felt bad for Dustin, having just learned a valuable lesson in a very painful way.

Once the battle was officially over, most of the rangers found themselves at Storm Chargers. Shane, Tori, Blake, and Hunter entered to find him finishing up fixing a bike. "Hey," Blake greeted.

"You okay?" Tori asked.

"Man, I'm such a chump," Dustin sighed. "I'll never trust anyone again."

"Hey, if you hadn't trusted us," Hunter began. "We wouldn't be here."

"Yeah," Shane agreed. "Everyone makes mistakes."

Dustin refused to look up. "First that bike guy, then Marah…"

"Hey, don't blame yourself," Hunter cut him off.

"That girl is bad news," Blake added.

"There was just something about her eyes…" Dustin trailed off. "They seemed so sincere."

Kennedi appeared next to the group. "Dustin, there's somebody here for you."

"Can you tell him I'm not here or something?" Dustin turned toward the counter.

"I think you'll really wanna see this, though," she urged. Dustin turned back around and looked past the group, gasping. He took the towel off his neck and ran toward the entrance, where the guy he met at the track was standing with his bike.

"Dude," the guy apologized. "I'm so sorry. It turns out the printer messed up the address on my new business cards. You must've thought I was a kook."

"You have no idea how stoked I am right now," Dustin grinned.

The guy nodded. "Your bike's all dialed in. Let me know how it rides."

"Thanks man," Dustin thanked, and the man left. Dustin sat on his bike and turned to the others, who were all wearing amused grins. "See? Sometimes, you just gotta trust people."

* * *

A/N: Up next is Sensei Switcheroo, which is a chapter I've been waiting for. What'll happen now? Expect a couple more visits from Kira. Anyone guess who Kennedi's softball coach and uncle are?


	5. Sensei Switcheroo

**New Girl**

**Chapter 5: Sensei Switcheroo**

_A/N: I will have appearances by former rangers, Kennedi's family, and other random characters throughout the series. This story will have 20 chapters. Last chapter, Kennedi had her first softball game and talked to her sister. Dustin believed Marah was changing, only to be betrayed and learn a valuable lesson about trust. Now, a tough subject for Kennedi arises, and some of the rangers do a bit of body switching. _

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

A week after the Beevil incident, Dustin appeared to be back to his normal self. They all knew that he had ended up liking Marah during the very short time she had pretended to be good, and that the betrayal had hurt him. At the moment, Hunter, Cam, and Blake were in Storm Chargers. The green ranger had been trying to get out more. Kelly was in the back room, doing inventory. Kennedi was supposed to be working, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Kennedi walked into the shop, wearing a black outfit and spotted the boys, walking over to them. They were confused as to why she was dressed in black. Before they could ask, Dustin walked in and over to them with an older man. "Hey, guys," he greeted. "I want you to meet my dad." The guys and Kennedi reached out to shake his hand. "This is Hunter, Blake, Cam, and my new friend Kennedi."

"I'm Jake," his father shook their hands. "Dustin's told me everything about you guys." At that, the four rangers looked to Dustin.

"Not everything," he assured in a whisper, before raising his voice again just as Kelly walked by. "Oh, and uh, this is my boss, Kelly."

"Hi, nice to meet you," Kelly greeted. "Can I help you with something?"

"We, uh, stopped by to pick up some new gloves," Dustin answered. "Dad thrashed his last pair."

Hunter looked at the two. "You guys ride together? That is so cool."

"I taught him everything he knows," Jake grinned.

"It's true," Dustin agreed. He led his dad over to where Kelly was standing, waiting for them with a pair of gloves. The other four rangers watched them.

"A guy and his dad," Hunter sighed. "I miss that."

"Yeah, me too," Blake nodded with his own sigh.

To their surprise, Cam agreed. "So do I."

"What are you talking about?" Kennedi frowned. She may not have been here long, but at least Cam's dad was still around.

"Yeah, at least your dad's still around," Hunter supported his girlfriend.

"Somehow, high-fiving a guinea pig just isn't the same," Cam stated.

"But isn't it better than not having your dad around at all?" Kennedi questioned, causing the green ranger to think. "May be different, but at least he's still there for you."

Blake turned to the girl dressed in black. "So where have you been?"

"Angel Grove," Kennedi replied, her mood dampening. "Went to visit _my _dad's grave."

"You lost your father?" Cam frowned, snapping out of his thoughts.

"When I was four," Kennedi nodded. "He was on his way home from work when a drunk driver ran him off the road, thirteen years ago today. Left my mom to raise me and my sister. Don't think she would've been able to do it if my uncle and some of his friends weren't helping us out. He died before my sister and I really got a chance to know him."

She walked off, going to change and leaving the boys alone.

* * *

The next day, Tori, Shane, and Kennedi had gone to Ninja Ops. Cam had thought of a way to try and make his father human again. He had a talk with his father about the situation at hand, and afterward, had come up with an idea to change him back. Shane, Tori, and Kennedi had come to Ninja Ops to see if he wanted to go watch the red ranger's skating demo. When they walked in, they were too entranced by the contraption Cam had set up to even think about asking.

"I've adjusted the energy of my morpher to reconstruct matter at a subatomic level," Cam explained.

"Huh?" the red and blue rangers frowned.

"Basically, he's saying that he could possibly make his father human again," Kennedi translated. They all looked to her, wondering how she knew that. "What? One of my uncle's friends is a super genius. Spent a lot of time figuring out what exactly he was saying whenever he babysat me and my sister."

Sensei hopped on the small platform set up for him. "Are you sure you wanna do this, Sensei?" Tori asked.

"I am ready," the guinea pig nodded.

"Here it goes," Cam typed a few things into the computer before pressing a button. A strange noise came from the amulet.

"Cam?" Tori turned to the green ranger. "Is it supposed to sound like that?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I think the energy might be too intense. Shane, pull the main interface cables!"

Shane nodded and pulled said cables, causing the machine to spark and Ninja Ops to lose power. "Everyone okay?" Cam asked. The two girls nodded as Shane's voice reached their ears.

"Something's different," he spoke as they looked at the guinea pig, where Shane's voice was coming from. "I can feel it in my…whiskers." The three rangers stared at him. "What? What's wrong?"

"Dad?" Cam called cautiously.

"Dude, who are you calling dad?" Shane retorted.

"I am here, Cam," Sensei spoke. Slowly, they all turned to find Shane's body standing tall.

Kennedi's eyes widened. "No way."

"I think we have a problem," Cam sighed.

"This can't be happening," Tori blinked. "Shane is in Sensei's body, and Sensei is in Shane's body?"

"That would appear to be the case," Sensei nodded. The machine sparked again, and the mainframe lost power.

"And if that weren't bad enough," Cam huffed. "The force of the elemental pulse has shorted all of Ninja Ops." He moved for the computer, and the two girls looked at Shane.

"You know," Tori commented. "You look kinda cute when you wrinkle your nose like that." Kennedi attempted to suppress her laughter.

"This isn't funny," Shane glared. It didn't help as it wasn't as effective as it used to be. "I can't be a guinea pig today. I have a skate demo."

Kennedi shrugged. "I'm sure we can find a way to explain it to Kelly. She might be mad, but…"

"Not to mention what we're supposed to do if Lothor attacks," Cam added. "We're on backup power as it is."

"We must not anyone know of our dilemma," Sensei stated. "I will uphold your skating obligation."

"No offense, Sensei," Tori began. "You may look like Shane, but skate like Shane? No way."

"You must not underestimate the power of a ninja master," Sensei reminded her. "Cam, stay here and correct the situation. Tori, take me to the skate park, please."

"What am I supposed to do?" Shane cried. "I'm starving!"

Kennedi looked around and spotted a bag of guinea pig food. "Here you go," she smiled, placing it in front of him. "Try some of this."

"We'll be back as soon as we can," Tori added with a chuckle. She led Sensei out and Kennedi followed them, planning to find Blake and Hunter to let them know what was going on.

* * *

"What's that?" Hunter asked as he appeared behind his girlfriend at Storm Chargers. With Kelly and Dustin at the skate demo, it was up to Kennedi, Hunter, and Blake to run the shop. Blake had gone out to grab some lunch for the three of them while the two managed the store. Hunter had been repairing bikes while Kennedi was manning the cash register. At the moment, there were a few customers lingering about.

"Don't scare me like that!" she smacked his shoulder. In her hands, she had the mail, one piece in particular was open. "And it's nothing. Just SAT scores."

"You already took the SATs?" Hunter frowned. "When?"

"Last month," Kennedi shrugged. "I figured the earlier I take it, the quicker I can get scores to send in to colleges I plan on applying to, and then I won't have to worry about it when everyone else is."

Hunter nodded. He was a couple years older than Kennedi and already finishing up his freshman year in college whereas she was finishing her junior year of high school. "How'd you do?"

"Could do better, but okay for my first time taking it," she sighed. "I'm taking it again in another couple months, in June. You thinking of staying with Blue Bay U or are you gonna transfer?"

"Thinking of sticking with it," Hunter wrapped an arm around her. They began walking to the lounge area as the last customer filed out, leaving the two (and Blake when he returned) to their lunch break. "I am changing my major, though. I think I might do culinary, if I stay there."

"What do you mean if you stay there?" Kennedi frowned.

"Well," Hunter bit his lip. "When I turned eighteen, a few months before our academies began working together and before I met you, I enlisted to the army."

Kennedi looked shocked. She knew that Hunter was completely capable of being in the army, but she didn't think he had actually enlisted. "Why?"

"My dad was in it," Hunter shrugged. "Until Lothor killed him. My grandfather was in the army, and I feel like following what is kind of a tradition. I mean, I just want to serve the country and be known for it. I get that what we do as rangers is serving the country, but it's more so California and the city more than it is the actual country."

"I think that's reasonable," Kennedi agreed. "But don't you have to be training?"

"I was in my high school's JROTC program," Hunter admitted. "And I'm taking courses at night. But if being in the army doesn't work out, I still want to be able to do the other thing I'm passionate about, which is cooking."

"I thought you couldn't cook?" Kennedi smirked. "If you say you can, then how about the next date we have, you cook dinner?"

"Deal," Hunter grinned.

Kennedi kissed him before getting up to leave. She grabbed her lunch from Blake, who was walking by them and left for Ninja Ops, hoping Cam would have a solution by now.

* * *

Kennedi had gotten a call from Cam saying that he had the systems back up and running and was ready to switch Shane and Sensei back. Already on route to Ninja Ops, Kennedi picked up her speed. When she got there, she ran into Tori, Dustin, and Sensei entering the base. All four walked in and found two platforms set up. There was a small one for Shane and a larger one on the ground for Sensei.

"There," Cam finished. "By implementing a new wireless power supply, I think I fixed the problem."

"So it'll work this time?" Tori raised an eyebrow.

"As long as nothing interrupts the energy flow," Cam nodded. "Here goes." He pushed a button, and greenish glow surrounded Sensei and Shane.

"Hey, it's working," Dustin grinned, stepping a bit closer. Kennedi grabbed the back of his ninja uniform to pull him back at the same moment the yellow ranger's fists hit the glow around Sensei. Tori and Cam frowned as they watched what was happening. When the process was done, the four involved were knocked off their feet.

Shane was first to speak, back in his rightful body. "Oh, I got legs! I got legs! I'm me again!"

"Dad," Cam turned to the guinea pig, hoping Dustin's minor interference did nothing. "How do you feel?"

"Like I could go for a big bag of sunflower seeds," Kennedi's voice came from the animal. "Hey, when did you guys get so tall?"

Cam and Tori turned to where Dustin and Kennedi's bodies were standing. The brunette spoke up, revealing Sensei's voice. "We seem to have solved one problem and created another."

"I'm a girl," Dustin's voice came from Kennedi's body, sounding horrified.

"Well, technically, it is your fault," Kennedi shrugged. "I reached out and grabbed you to pull you away from it before something happened, and you end up touching it."

Tori turned to Cam. "Oh boy."

* * *

A while later, Cam had sent Dustin, Shane, Tori, and Sensei out to fight Footzilla, who had returned for the second part of the battle. Kennedi, in her guinea pig form, was standing on the desk in front of the mainframe, looking up at it. Cam was sending the alert to the thunder rangers, filling them in on what was going on. The two watched the fight on the mainframe, Cam waiting for his moment to appear.

"It's weird seeing my body out there fighting," Kennedi remarked. "I'm surprised Dustin hasn't made a comment about the skirt, yet."

"_It's extremely uncomfortable!" _Dustin complained, having heard what she said. _"How do you girls put up with it?"_

"_Focus, will you?" _Tori demanded as Kennedi laughed. The Bradley brothers appeared on the screen. They kicked Footzilla away before morphing.

"Well, I better go join them," Cam sighed. "Keep an eye on it. Cyber Cam will send the zords when we need them!"

Kennedi frowned. "Who's Cyber Cam?" Cam was gone before she got an answer, and a hologram of him appeared in the seat, dressed in the opposite of what Cam would normally wear. "Creepy…"

Cyber Cam shrugged as the two watched the video feed of the fight. The seven rangers were lifted in the air by anti-gravity pads. Shane was plummeted into the ground. Sensei seemed to be the only one focused and managing to actually do something. Shane broke himself free and attacked Footzilla. When he blew him up, the others fell to the ground, Sensei being the only one to land on his feet.

"Ouch," Cyber Cam commented.

"No kidding," Kennedi muttered. A strike from the thunder storm cannon blew Footzilla up. "Awesome weapon."

"_Cam, the megazords," _Sensei ordered. Cyber Cam helped out by bringing the zords in. Kennedi didn't have one, and she didn't mind that she didn't. Since she didn't, Dustin was left out of the zords, standing there watching.

"_Feels weird not being in a zord," _he whined.

Kennedi rolled her eyes. "Hey, at least you have one. I don't. And for once, you're not getting worked." Cam appeared back in Ninja Ops, Cyber Cam disappeared.

"_True," _Dustin mused. _"But seriously…how do you put up with this skirt?"_

* * *

After the fight, all seven rangers and Sensei were present in Ninja Ops. The three involved in the body switching process stood on three different platforms, waiting for the switch to happen. Hunter and Blake were a bit lost as to what was going on. "Everything's all set," Cam started. He looked to Sensei, still in Dustin's body. "Dad, you ready?"

"I never realized how hard it must be for you not having a human father any longer," Sensei placed a hand on Cam's shoulder.

"Whatever form you're in," Cam sighed. "I'll always be there for you. And I know you're always there for me."

"That's really cool," Dustin interrupted. "But, can we get this over with? I kinda don't want to be stuck as a girl for another minute." Sensei moved to step on his platform. Cam typed away on the keyboard before hitting a button.

A glow surrounded Sensei, Dustin, and Kennedi. The others stayed far enough away to make sure they wouldn't interfere any more. When the process was over, the two human ninjas blinked, adjusting to being back in their own bodies. "Oh yeah!" Dustin grinned, happy to be back. "What a trip!"

"And I have returned to my rodent form," Sensei added.

"It feels weird being back on two legs," Kennedi mumbled, stretching.

* * *

A/N: Ending this here. I can just see that the filming of the last scene in the episode being difficult to film. I can see the cast just laughing as they're trying to film it. Anyway, up next is Tongue and Cheek.


	6. Tounge and Cheek

**New Girl**

**Chapter 6: Tongue and Cheek**

_A/N: So here's chapter six. Last time, Kennedi, Shane, Dustin, and Sensei did a bit of body switching. They are now back in their own bodies and are well on their way to their next ranger adventure. What'll happen when Dustin gets a little more fame than the other rangers? Will anyone else be there to witness the chaos that will ensue? _

_Also, I apologize if this chapter is short. Not many more chapters left._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

One night nearly a week after the body switching mishap, Dustin and Kelly found themselves being the last ones inside Storm Chargers. Earlier in the day, a man from a larger chain of sports stores had talked to Kelly about adding Storm Chargers to the chain. Of course, she declined, proud of the small shop she had created. Kennedi had a night game, and at the moment, she was on her way back home. Kelly was getting ready to head to Angel Grove for the weekend, going to help her cousin with moving to Reefside.

"Later," Dustin spoke as Kelly passed by him. He was locking up tonight.

"You don't mind locking up once Ken gets back?" Kelly questioned.

"No problem," Dustin shrugged. "I just got a few things I have to put away."

Kelly nodded and smiled before heading for the door. "See you Monday." She walked out just as Kennedi walked in, carrying her softball equipment.

"How'd the game go?" the yellow ranger asked as he saw her.

"We smoked Mariner Bay's team," Kennedi grinned. "I'm gonna head up to the loft and take a shower. Lock up when you leave!" she headed up to the loft above. Dustin sighed and moved to the garage, beginning to put things away.

Since the door was still unlocked, it allowed a group of guys wearing burglar uniforms to enter, smirking. Dustin heard the door open and close, and he stopped his actions. Quietly, he listened to hear the men who entered speak. It was hearing a clothing rack crash to the ground that got his attention. He peeked out from around the corner and saw the group trashing the place. Biting his lip, he made his move.

Just as a guy was about to rip a skateboard off of the wall, a white gloved hand with a yellow pad stopped him. The man turned to find the yellow ranger glaring at him through the helmet. Eyes wide, the men began scrambling for the door, only to have their way blocked by the ranger. "I guess you didn't see the closed sign. Now go back and tell your boss the shop's not for sale!" He stopped them once more. "After you put that back."

"Dustin, I forgot my…" Kelly trailed off as she reentered the shop, finding the yellow ranger standing there. "Wow. A power ranger."

"Yes ma'am," Dustin nodded. "And you won't have any more problems with these guys. Move it!" The guys quickly ran out of the store, and Kelly turned to him.

"Thanks Dustin," she thanked.

"No problem," he grinned, before catching the word. "Wait, what?"

Kelly rolled her eyes. "I know it's you under there, Dustin. Why do you think I haven't fired you four considering all the times you've run out on me?"

"Um," Dustin rubbed the back of his neck nervously, dropping the morph. Kennedi, having heard the commotion, came downstairs in her pajamas, towel wrapped around her hair.

"What the hell happened in here?" she demanded, seeing the trashed store.

Kelly and Dustin shared a look.

* * *

The next morning, Kennedi sat at the breakfast table in the loft, reading the newspaper article on the yellow ranger. She found that while what Dustin did was brave, it was also very stupid. Kelly already knew who the rangers were and hasn't said a thing to anyone but Dustin and Kennedi that she knew. The dirty blonde groaned as she headed down to the shop, meeting her softball team at the door. She figured they were curious about the yellow ranger's appearance at the place she worked and lived at.

With a sigh, she let the team in before shutting and locking the door, keeping the closed sign up. Questions were fired her way about her seeing the yellow ranger, and choosing her words carefully, she answered them. A few of her teammates had to leave, having family events to get to, but most stayed behind. With Kelly out of town, Blake and Hunter having the day off, and Dustin going to want to stay out of the spotlight, it would really only be her working.

When she opened shop, a huge crowd of people swarmed in. Some had cameras with them as they walked by, snapping pictures of the ground the yellow ranger had touched. Kennedi roped a couple of her teammates into helping as the rest left, and Dustin showed up a few minutes later to help out as well. The crowd didn't seem to be shrinking, even with the people she cashed out.

"This place is packed," Hunter commented as he, Blake, and Shane made their way toward Kennedi, who was at the counter.

"Hey guys," she greeted, trying to seem polite.

"What's the deal, Ken?" Shane asked, confused.

"Ever since the yellow ranger made his big appearance, I can't keep people away," Kennedi explained. She wasn't going to say Dustin's name in case someone overheard her, and the other three caught on. "It's kinda crazy. I had to rope some of my softball friends into helping out. Great for business, though."

"Just 'cause the yellow ranger was here?" Shane raised an amused eyebrow. "He's not even like…the red one," Shane struck a pose. The Bradley brothers playfully shoved him, sending short glares.

Kennedi laughed. "I don't know. Guess there's just something about a man in tight yellow spandex that the customers, especially the lady ones, love."

"Oh, man," Dustin blinked as he came over, spotting Shane. "I lost track of time. Let me wash up." He went to the back to do so, and Shane turned to the Bradley brothers.

"So, what are you guys going to do while me and Dustin are at the skate park?" he wondered.

Hunter pulled out a piece of paper. "It's from our adoptive grandmother."

"Yeah," Blake nodded. "We've never met her before. We hear she's really sick."

"You going to visit her?" Kennedi asked.

"Well, that's the problem," Blake huffed. "She lives like, really far away."

"Hey, you think Sensei will let us use the Ninja Red Eye, if you know what I mean?" Hunter hoped.

Shane shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

* * *

Because of the never ending crowd, Kennedi had to force people out and closed shop early. With no one else available to help her out, she had to close early. Her friends had to leave soon after the guys left, needing to get back home to their families. With the shop closed, Kennedi decided to go in hunt of Tori, hoping to hang out with the blonde. On her way to find Tori, she got a call to meet the others at Ninja Ops.

Kennedi arrived at Ninja Ops, running into Tori on the way. Shane entered the room not long after the girls, voicing the thought on everyone's mind. "I'm worried about Dustin. I mean, all this attention has gone to his head, and if it gets any bigger…"

"What?" the yellow ranger interrupted, entering. "There won't be enough room in here for the rest of you?"

"Something like that," Shane sighed, folding his arms over his chest.

"I think you're just jealous," Dustin mused. "And, dude, green is not your color."

"Well, it is my color, dude," Cam spoke up. "And I think Shane has a point, for what it's worth."

Dustin rolled his eyes. "Typical. Everyone thinks Dustin can't be right."

"This isn't about who's right, Dustin," Tori stood.

"It's about doing what's right," Kennedi finished.

"We are all pleased you have gained the world's attention, Dustin," Sensei began. "But how you use that attention is what's important."

"Thanks for your concern," Dustin huffed. "But I think I'm doing just fine. I gotta go. I have to take a call from my agent." He walked out of the room.

Tori and Kennedi turned to each other, eyebrows raised. "Agent?"

"We may have a problem," Shane sighed.

"That's not the only problem," Cam got their attention. They walked over to join him at the mainframe. "Just lost all trace of Blake and Hunter." He typed away further, trying to get a lock on them. "I've traced the thunders' DNA. They disappeared off the map here and reappeared…there!" The screen displayed an alien that looked like a mailbox with a long tongue.

"Lothor's Postmonster General," Shane declared.

"He must've gone postal on Hunter and Blake," Kennedi concluded.

"Let's go," Tori agreed.

Cam halted them. "Someone beat you to it."

"How'd he get there all ready?" Tori groaned.

"Hey, he's the great yellow ranger, remember?" Shane rolled his eyes. "Of course he's there first."

"Shane," the guinea pig got the red ranger's attention. "I seem to remember that before you and Dustin were rangers, you were good friends. It would be a shame to lose that."

* * *

Shane, Kennedi, and Tori made their appearance beside Dustin rather quickly. They were fighting near one of the various construction sites in the city. Thankfully, no one was around to see them not in morph. The alien was uglier in person. Dustin attempted to morph, only to be interrupted by the three other rangers appearing.

"Mind if we crash your party?" Tori huffed.

"Hey, don't answer that," Shane replied. "Because we already did."

"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!"

"Ember Storm, Ranger Form!"

Tori and Kennedi waited for the two guys to finish trying to be the last one to give their morphing call. All four morphed and drew their swords, getting ready to fight. "Hey!" Kennedi called out to the Slob Goblin. "What have you done to our friends?"

"I've stamped them out!" the goblin answered. "And you're about to be next!" He fired at them. The girls dove to one side while the boys dove to the other. Shane got up first and charged with his sword, only for the goblin to catch it and throw the red ranger down. Shane and Dustin made an attack that injured the goblin. While the two rangers set off into an argument, Tori and Kenned rolled their eyes.

"You guys are being ridiculous!" Tori shouted at them, right before she was turned into a stamp. The goblin picked her up and sent her to the same place Blake and Hunter were.

The goblin shot out his tongue and wrapped Kennedi up in it, tight enough that she couldn't break free. "Gross!" she yelped. She was dragged over to the goblin, and this snapped the guys out of their fighting.

"Kennedi!" they shouted, alarmed.

"Thanks to you," the Slob Goblin held Kennedi in a tight grip. "I've got a new orange stamp!" The two boys were shot back.

"I've got to help her," Dustin groaned.

"You?" Shane questioned.

Dustin nodded. "This whole thing is my fault."

"If that's the way you want it," Shane handed the yellow ranger his hawk blaster. "Then take this. If you really don't want my help, you're going to need all the fire power you can get."

"Wait," Dustin pulled them into a standing position. "I don't want to go it alone." He handed the blaster back. "I want us to be a team again. Like we were before."

"That's so touching," Slob Goblin interrupted.

Dustin lay on his stomach on the ground and Shane stood on his back. With their swords standing tall, they used their powers to move toward the goblin and attack. Kennedi was thrown out of the way and the goblin was hit. He exploded, and everyone who was turned into a stamp was back to their normal selves. Tori reappeared with the others on the field.

"Thanks guys," Kennedi breathed as their visors opened.

"We cool?" Shane looked to Dustin.

"Yeah," he nodded. "We're cool."

* * *

After the fight using the megazords, all the rangers found themselves back in Ninja Ops. Dustin was back on track with his mind clear and focused on the same task as the others when it came to stopping Lothor. Dustin, Kennedi, Hunter, and Blake entered the main room from the side room. "How was seeing your grandmother?" Kennedi asked as they walked in.

"She's so cool," Hunter responded. "And she's feeling much better now, as well."

"She wasn't even fazed by the monster attack," Blake added with a grin. "Man, that's one tough lady."

"Hey, check it out," Shane got their attention from behind. He held up the front page of the newspaper, where a picture of the three primary colored rangers was shown. "Front cover, bro."

"Hey, the press did show," Dustin smiled.

Sensei spoke up. "Fortunately, they seem to have missed the part where you opened your visors."

"I'm through being a celebrity," Dustin declared. "From now on, it's all for one and one for all."

* * *

A/N: Not as long as I had hoped. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Up next is Brothers in Arms, a chapter I've never actually written that followed the actual episode.


	7. Brothers In Arms

**New Girl**

**Chapter 7: Brothers In Arms**

_A/N: So I've never actually written this episode before so that it completely follows the episode, so let's see how this goes, shall we? Also, I think I might have a former ranger appear in this chapter or the next, or maybe both. Not sure. All I know is that I can't wait to get to the Shimazu arc. Hopefully this chapter will turn out all right._

_If you haven't done so already, please vote in the poll on my profile! More info about it can be found in the previous two chapters of my House of Rangers story._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

Dustin's fame had come and gone quickly within the remainder of the week. The team was good again, and Dustin had learned his lesson about letting fame get to his head. At the moment, he was running Storm Chargers while Kennedi and Kelly were watching the Bradley Brothers race. It was a beautiful day for the race, and Kennedi was excited at getting to see her boyfriend finally race. A good sized crowd had appeared as well.

After riding a couple of laps, Blake and Hunter pulled over next to the Storm Chargers van, where all their tools were, the taller of the two brothers having an issue with his bike. Kelly and Kennedi walked over to them, the former speaking. "Sounded like the top end."

"I let go on the last straight," Hunter sighed.

"Think you can rebuild it before the next moto?" Kennedi wondered.

"No way," the blonde shook his head. "I've never done one in less than five hours."

"I'm telling you guys," Kelly reminded them. "If you wanna go pro, you need someone to wrench on your bikes."

Blake nodded. "Okay, but there isn't a mechanic in the world that can fix this thing in enough time."

At that moment, a scrawny man with a mechanic's uniform on, carrying a toolbox stopped near them, having overheard the conversation as he passed. "I-I'll give it a try," he offered.

"You think you can do it in less than two hours?" Hunter raised an eyebrow.

"Sure," the guy shrugged.

"That's impossible," Kennedi scoffed. "Hey, if you can do it, go for it."

* * *

Hunter was able to race again, the strange mechanic having just finished up fixing the bike. Kennedi and Kelly watched once more from the sidelines. When Hunter had taken home the trophy, the three teens headed back to Storm Chargers to show Dustin. Kelly had dropped them off before leaving to go run a couple of errands. The three ninjas walked in the shop and found Dustin. "First place," Hunter got his attention, holding out the shiny green and gold trophy.

"Oh, hey, you did it," Dustin congratulated.

"Yeah man," Blake grinned. "He checked out on the second lap."

"I'd say you're getting faster," Dustin commented.

"That's probably part of it," Hunter nodded. "I felt like I was riding a factory bike out there."

Kennedi agreed. "Yeah, that freaky guy really hooked you up, huh?"

"What freak guy?" Dustin frowned.

"Skinny," Blake described. "Kind of nerdy looking…"

"Did a whole rebuild in a couple of hours," Kennedi added.

"That'd be Perry," Dustin concluded. "He's um, he's this total moto genius. A little shrimpy, though."

"You know him?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

The yellow ranger shrugged. "Yeah."

"So where does he live?" Blake asked.

"Out of town in that creepy area by the train tracks," the earth ninja replied. He walked away to go continue working.

Kennedi looked between the two boys, seeing them share a look.

* * *

While Hunter and Blake were on their way back, the other rangers got the alert of an attack on the city. Shane, Dustin, and Tori had been in Ninja Ops with Cam when a hooded figure giving off strange signals appeared on the screen. Kennedi was working, but she was given the alert to join them. The four rangers met up once they were morphed. The three primary colored ones were able to get to the scene faster than the orange ranger because they had their tsunami cycles.

"Hey!" Shane called as they arrived. "Mind if we put in a few hot laps?"

"Be my guest," the golden hooded figure spoke in a robotic voice. "But be prepared to eat dirt!" The cloak was thrown off and a figure of gold was in its place. "You're not the only ones with a bike!" With a wave of his hand, a bigger, cooler looking bike appeared before the rangers. The four on bikes charged each other.

"You guys okay?" Kennedi asked as Tori, Shane, and Dustin were kicked off of their cycle. She drew her sword and charged the creature at the same time Cam did, the green ranger in his super samurai mode. Both of them were shot back into nearby barrels.

"Cam, Kennedi, you okay?" Shane wondered as the other three ran to them and helped them up.

The golden figure smirked. "What? This is just the beginning!"

That set the five rangers into a free for all against him. No matter what the rangers would try, they would always be shot back or thrown into something. It didn't stop the rangers from getting back up and trying to land a hit once more. At one point, Kennedi ended up being thrown into Tori, and the two girls ended up crashing into more barrels. The three guys charged at once as the girls got up, only to be thrown back. As Dustin and Cam were tossed down once more, Blake and Hunter rode in on their cycles.

"What's going on?" Hunter asked.

"He went inside," Shane pointed to the warehouse. The thunders got off their bikes and ran into the building.

* * *

Kennedi, Shane, Tori, Dustin, Cam, Blake, and Hunter found themselves back at Ninja Ops once the fight against Motodrome was over. Blake and Hunter had figured out the name of the alien, and all of them had gotten worked. This was one alien that would prove to be a tough challenge, and all of them were starting to feel sore from the fight. At the moment, they surrounded the mainframe. "This is the weirdest thing," Cam frowned, looking at the screen.

"What is it?" Tori questioned.

"I've been running tests on Motodrome," Cam explained. "And I found traces of human DNA."

"No way," Kennedi's eyes widened. "That thing is human?"

"Looks like some sort of mutation," the green ranger nodded.

"Then it's not one of Lothor's goons," Blake concluded.

Cam agreed. "No. I won't be able to find out who it is until the computer goes through the database."

"Until then," Sensei spoke. "You must take care in dealing with this creature. We don't know what he's capable of."

* * *

Once she left Ninja Ops, Kennedi had gone home quickly and grabbed her softball gear before heading out to practice. She was feeling very sore. Being thrown into Tori and crashing into barrels at the same time was not pleasant. She knew the others were off doing their own thing. As much as she wanted to skip this practice, she couldn't. They had a huge game coming up, and none of them could afford to miss a practice. When she got to the fields, not all of her teammates were there.

"Hey Ken," Valerie greeted as she spotted the dirty blonde appear. Kennedi set her gear inside the dugout and grabbed her glove, joining the game of catch.

"Hey ladies," Kennedi smiled.

"You gonna join us for smoothies after the game this time?" Alison wondered, tossing the ball toward her.

"Depends on if Kelly has me scheduled to work or not," Kennedi replied.

Grace rolled her eyes. "Girl, you're _always _working. If it's not softball, you're working."

"Hey, excuse me for wanting to make a bit of cash," the fire ninja chuckled. "Besides, I plan on sticking around here for a while."

"What do you mean?" Grace frowned.

"Do you mean on the team or…" Valerie trailed off.

Kennedi laughed. "I mean maybe do a semester here so I can play fall ball in Blue Bay. But no matter what, I have to spend second semester in Reefside. My mom wants my sister and I to graduate from the same high school, so…"

"Then that would mean that Reefside steals you from us," Alison huffed.

"Technically, you guys stole me from Reefside," Kennedi pointed out as more girls arrived. "If they steal me back, then they'd be taking what's theirs."

* * *

To end the practice, the coach had the girls do a small scrimmage, spreading them out throughout the field. They took turns hitting, not really having a team to do an actual scrimmage. Their coach watched from over by the dugout. When the practice ended, they all gathered around him to hear what he had to say. However, before she could listen in, Kennedi heard her morpher going on, and cursed the timing of it.

She darted back to the dugout, grabbing her things and making sure she had everything. "Kennedi, where are you going?" Coach Taylor asked as he noticed this.

"Work emergency," she replied. "Sorry for leaving, but I really have to go!" She bolted off without another word, leaving behind a very confused coach.

Coach Taylor wasn't stupid. To him, Kennedi's behavior seemed eerily familiar. It reminded him of himself and his friends when they were her age and what they did.

Rolling his eyes at his thoughts, he turned to the rest of his team.

* * *

Kennedi had joined Blake and Hunter in their fighting, figuring they would need more help than the others would. The three fought against Motodrome once more, and the end result was not pretty. By the time Shane, Tori, and Dustin had managed to catch up to them, Motodrome had kidnapped Kennedi. Hunter was stressing out about it on the inside, and Blake could tell. Now, the six other rangers were back in Ninja Ops.

"Come on, man," Hunter urged Cam. "Where is she?" The crimson ranger was growing impatient, worried for his girlfriend. The others noticed this and began thinking something might have been going on between Hunter and Kennedi, but only Blake knew the truth.

"Hold on," Cam stopped him. "I've nearly got a lock on Motodrome's identity." They all gathered around him and saw what he concluded.

"Perry," Hunter blinked. "I know where Kennedi is."

"Let's go," Tori nodded. They ninjas began to move.

"Hunter," Sensei stopped them. "I know Kennedi is in danger, but remember, so is Perry. If you don't destroy the Motodrome technology soon, it will absorb Perry, and he will be gone forever."

Hunter understood. "Don't worry."

* * *

Since Hunter and Cam were the ones elected to go into the warehouse, they hid from sight near the building while the other four rangers with bikes waited for him to come out. Shane called out to Motodrome, trying to get his attention. Seconds later, Motodrome crashed through the door of the building on his cycle, charging the rangers. The wind rangers and Blake led him away from the building as Hunter and Cam snuck inside.

The crimson and green rangers made their way toward the room Kennedi was in, making sure not to trip over anything that might cause a disturbance. They quickly found her in the largest room. The orange ranger was strapped down to a chair with a strange helmet with multiple tubes resting on her head. "You okay?" Hunter asked, seeing she did not look well at all.

"It took you long enough to get here," she groaned. Cam removed the helmet. "Motodrome…it's…"

"Perry," Hunter filled in. "We know." He unstrapped her from the chair. Kennedi tried to get up, but Hunter pushed her back. "No no no. Sit this one out." Their morphers beeped.

"I better go help them," Cam looked to Hunter. "Think you can make sure she'll be okay?"

"Yeah," the blonde nodded. Cam ran out, going to help the others. "It's quite a set up," he observed.

"You?" Kennedi scoffed. "Nerd envy?"

Hunter rolled his eyes. "I'm not a nerd. It just means this is going to be difficult." He moved to observe the controls.

"He used my ranger energies to power that bike," Kennedi stated. "I think he turned it into some kind of weapon." Hunter pushed a few random buttons.

"He's only taken an imprint of your energy," he frowned. "If I redirect the power, I think I can get you back on your feet."

"You know how to use that technology?" Kennedi raised an eyebrow.

"Do you trust me?" Hunter retorted.

Kennedi nodded. "What about the bike?"

Hunter looked behind him where the orange bike now sat.

* * *

Kennedi grinned as she rode to the battle scene on her new bike. It was the first major thing she had gotten since she became a ranger. The others already had zords and bikes, and this was the first thing she had gotten. Hunter had managed to figure out what the controls did and get the bike to work for her. The bike was a bit bigger than the other's bikes, but she figured that wouldn't matter. When she arrived, she fired at the Kelzaks that were about to attack her teammates. She continued her assault on the creatures as a morphed Hunter joined the others.

When she pulled to a stop after destroying the Kelzaks, the others ran over to her. She noticed someone was missing. "Where's Blake?" Hunter was wondering the same thing, just now noticing that his brother was with them.

"Taking on Perry," Shane pointed to the cliff above them. Without a second thought, Kennedi sped off on her bike, hoping to get to Motodrome before Blake got seriously injured. She rode off the cliff, falling after Blake and trying to catch him.

"Ninja Glider Bike! Flight Mode!" she called, and her bike made the transformation from a cycle into a high tech hang glider. She grabbed Blake by the hand and carefully moved him to the beach. After setting him down, she flew back to the cliff to face Motodrome.

All the others could see was a bunch of lasers being fired. They couldn't tell what was coming from who, but they were pretty sure that Kennedi was going to win this thing. After the biggest blast was fired, the rangers made the move to meet Kennedi on the beach.

* * *

"Dude, how come you get the cool bike?" Shane whined as he, Kennedi, Dustin, and Tori made their way to Storm Chargers. Kennedi was grinning madly, happy she finally got something. Hunter and Blake had gone to check on Perry and make sure he was all right. Cam had gone back to Ninja Ops, as expected, while the other four went to the sports shop.

"So you guys have bikes, gliders, _and _zords, and you're upset because I only have the bike?" Kennedi raised an eyebrow. Tori laughed.

"Yeah…but your bike is way cooler than ours!" Dustin backed up his friend. "It's so not fair."

"Life isn't fair," Kenned laughed alongside the water ninja as they entered the shop.

Tori agreed. "Come on, guys. She has a point. She should at least have a bike if she's gonna be a part of the team."

"Thank you!" Kennedi grinned.

Shane and Dustin just pouted, jealous.

* * *

A/N: I figured where Kennedi doesn't have anything aside from her ranger powers that she should get the bike instead of Hunter. After all, he already has his own ranger bike. So what'd you think? Up next is Shane's Karma arc.


	8. Shane's Karma Part I

**New Girl**

**Chapter 8: Shane's Karma**

**Part I**

_A/N: Well, here's the next chapter. Last time, Kennedi got a new bike to help her fight, and Shane and Dustin were jealous of that. They faced and destroyed a new enemy, and hopefully it will work out for them in the end. Kennedi's softball coach has suspicions about what she's doing that causes her to run off a good chunk of the time at the end of practices. What'll happen now on someone's special day?_

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

"Man, I'm worked," Dustin groaned as he and the other rangers walked into Ninja Ops after their intense training session. The boys and Tori were all sore and tired, while Kennedi felt quite the opposite. She felt energized and awake, probably because of the energy drinks she had before training, since it was going to be a long day.

"So am I," Blake agreed. "Ten mile run, two fight simulations, and an obstacle course."

"Don't forget two hours of hard meditation," Hunter added.

"You look tired," Dustin commented to the red ranger. "Training finally getting to you?"

Shane shook his head and stood upright. "I'm not getting a lot of sleep. I keep having this weird dream."

"You should pay attention to that," Kennedi advised. "Sensei says your dreams can tell you a lot about yourself."

"Speaking of dad," Cam piped up, looking toward Sensei's small hut. "Where is he?" Tori moved over to the hut, finding a small note.

"Look," she called them over. "'Rangers, I have gone on a meditation retreat to reflect and recharge my inner ninja. In my absence, enjoy a well deserved day off.'"

"Aw, yeah!" the guys cheered, grinning. Tori looked upset as she stood back up, and Kennedi didn't seem to mind that they had a day off.

"Well, I'm thinking maybe, uh, the track, then a movie," Dustin began. "Or a movie and then the track…"

Blake noticed Tori's sad face. "Hey, Tor, what's the matter? Come on, don't tell me you can't deal with a day off."

"No, a day off is great," she assured. "Especially tomorrow. I just thought that Sensei would be around for…you know."

"What?" Kennedi asked, completely confused as were Hunter, Blake, and Cam. Dustin and Shane seemed to be confused as well, yet had more of an idea as to what the blue ranger was getting at.

Shane realized it first. "Oh man! Are we stupid?" He turned to Tori. "'Cause tomorrow, it is your birthday!" He finished up singing the last few words.

"How about a beach party?" Dustin suggested.

"What do you say, Tor?" Blake asked.

"All right, sure," Tori agreed, smiling now. "Sounds great to me."

"All right," Hunter spoke. "Meet at the beach first thing in the morning."

Tori looked at Shane. "Just make sure you get enough sleep tonight. I think tomorrow might be something special after all."

* * *

"Sorry I can't go tomorrow," Kennedi apologized as Tori gave her a ride home. They had already dropped off the boys, and Kennedi had moved into the front seat of Tori's van as the older girl drove to the sports shop. "But I've been signed up for this thing for the past month. If I had known about tomorrow, I wouldn't have signed up."

"It's fine," Tori assured. "I mean, I would've done the same thing. You have a prior commitment, that's it. But promise you'll try to make it if you got time to afterwards?"

"Promise," Kennedi smiled.

"Good," Tori grinned. "So…what exactly is this thing you're going to?"

Kennedi took a sip of water before replying. "Reefside's annual sports competition. It's a fundraiser for the Relay For Life later in the year, and all the local sports teams for Reefside combined with the clubs put together a team and do this fundraiser. People have to sign up for the sports they want to participate in."

"And what are you participating in?" Tori wondered.

"Softball," the dirty blonde answered. "Me and my sister are playing softball, I'm also doing soccer, and she's also doing lacrosse. I have to cheer on her lacrosse game and my friend's soccer game. If all those are done before the day is, then I'll head back for the party."

"We'll still be able to reach you in case we need to, right?" Tori asked. "Just in case."

"Of course," Kennedi nodded. "I'll have it with me at all times, except for when I'm playing. Kind of can't wear it while I'm playing, and if I do, people will notice it."

"Well, good luck," the blonde wished as she pulled into the parking lot and Kennedi hopped out, thanking her for the ride.

Tori sighed as she pulled away. Hopefully nothing would go wrong with tomorrow.

* * *

Early morning found Kennedi in Reefside. Just about the whole town was at the high school, waiting for the games to begin. Kennedi and her sister had already checked in before Kira ran off to get changed into her lacrosse uniform, that being up first. The orange ranger was walking around in search of a few of her other friends. Just as the lacrosse game began, Kennedi found her childhood friend and his twin brother watching from the sidelines, the lighter haired of the two already in his soccer uniform.

"See you're ready to play," she commented, walking up in between them. Both boys jumped at being startled.

"Dude, can you not do that?" Eric McKnight grumbled, glaring at her.

"Can you stop using the word 'dude' so much?" she retorted with a smirk. She turned to his twin brother, Conner. "Did you just show up like that?"

Conner shook his head. "Already changed. After the guys lacrosse game is your soccer game, followed by mine, and then the softball and baseball games."

"I know," she nodded. "I have the schedule. I'm not gonna change until the guys game starts."

"I'm still a little surprised that you and Kira play sports," Conner mused. "I mean, you I can see playing them more than her, but still…"

"Well, it's _your _fault for getting me into soccer," Kennedi smirked. "And we got ourselves into softball, because our uncle coaches it, and Kira somehow got into lacrosse. Don't know how, but she did. Besides, I'm surprised you're not doing any other sport but soccer."

"It's the only sport I'm good at," he huffed. Eric had walked off, finding some of his other friends. "Plus it's the only one I'm really interested in and have a shot at getting scholarships from."

Kennedi looked to the field and watched as her sister scored a goal. "Point taken. So, dating anyone?"

"Don't start that again," Conner groaned. Every time they hung out, Kennedi would always bring up the subject of dating. She knew how Conner felt about her twin, and was trying to push them together. She also knew her twin felt the same way, but both were too stupid to realize the other felt that way. Kennedi was trying to get them to admit it, and so far, it wasn't working. "But no, I do not currently have a girlfriend."

"How'd you lose your last one?"

"Caught her making out with the football star," he shrugged. "Wasn't going to last, anyway."

"Because you're too in love with my sister to try and make other relationships work," Kennedi grinned. "Why don't you just tell her?"

Conner rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like it's that easy. And who's to say she'll believe me? My reputation will not help me with that."

"All right," Kennedi mused, getting an idea. "Let's cut a deal, then."

"What kind of deal?" Conner eyed her suspiciously.

"If you don't ask her out or you two aren't a couple by the time senior prom comes around," Kennedi began. "I get to do whatever it takes to get you two together. Gives you a little more than a year to get things straight."

Conner thought for a moment. "Deal."

* * *

As the last game Kennedi had to stay for came to an end, she heard her morpher go off. She groaned before excusing herself from her sister's side to answer the call. Cyber Cam relayed the issue at hand, letting her know what was going on. When she disconnected, she sighed and made an excuse to her sister so she could leave. Not even bothering to take her car and once out of sight, Kennedi ninja streaked into the woods. Deciding that the others would be able to handle monster attacks if any popped up, she set her sights on finding Shane.

She made it into the woods of Blue Bay Harbor rather quickly and slowed down her pace a bit. The woods of Reefside and Blue Bay Harbor were connected, but Kennedi knew when she had entered the Blue Bay woods. The dirty blonde figured Tori might get upset if she hadn't gone to the party after the games like she promised, but she also figured that ranger duties would take priority over it.

As she paused to take a breath, she saw something big and dark coming toward her. Thinking it might be the problem Cyber Cam talked about, she prepared herself and kicked it out of the way. It landed behind her, and as she turned to face it, she saw a fish like alien appear. "Whoa. Hey, don't you need a license to be that ugly?"

"Another worthless human," the fish huffed.

"Lothor's goons don't scare me," Kennedi rolled her eyes. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I am Vexacus," the fish stated. "And I work for no one. Now, give me the Carmanian."

"The what?" the orange ranger frowned, truly confused.

"Have it your way," Vexacus got ready to fight. Kennedi did the same, and the two charged at each other. Any hit she tried to land was blocked by him, and he managed to knock her down a few times.

Kennedi glared at him. "Ember Storm, Ranger Form!" she bellowed, morphing into her ranger suit. Vexacus fired at her and knocked her down before she could do anything else. The impact caused her to lose her morph.

"Foolish earthling," Vexacus grumbled. "Where is the Carmanian? Tell me!" Out of nowhere, a ball of light appeared as Kennedi found Shane beside her. In a moment, the two were gone and so was the ball of light.

* * *

"What's going on?" Kennedi demanded as she and Shane landed. Shane already knew the answer, or at least the general one. He had been walking along with Skyla, the Carmanian, when he spotted Kennedi taking on Vexacus, who he had a run in with earlier. Skyla had helped them get away, and Shane had helped Kennedi with escaping.

"Hey," Skyla turned back into human form, smiling at her. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I should be," Kennedi nodded. "But…what's going on?"

"Could ask you the same thing," Shane pointed out.

Kennedi rolled her eyes. "Cyber Cam told me that there was something odd in the woods and that he couldn't get a hold on you and he didn't want to disturb the others, so he called me. I decided to come check this out, figuring something ranger related was going on. Now, why are you here and not at Tori's party?"

"Those strange dreams I've been having led me here," Shane replied. "We should probably get moving. That fish faced freak is looking for her," he nodded at Skyla.

* * *

"We should get you home," Shane spoke to Skyla as the three walked through the forest. Shane hadn't been in the woods much longer than Kennedi had, but he did know a bit more than she did. "It's not safe out here." Skyla had introduced herself to Kennedi as they walked, and Kennedi was just trying to recall information she learned about Carmanians at the academy.

"How do you know I even live this way?" the dark haired girl asked.

"Well maybe you can help me out then," Shane shrugged and stopped.

"All right," Skyla smirked, before pointing up. "Up there."

"Right," Shane nodded slowly. "So you're some alien life form or something? Is that what you're telling me?"

Kennedi realized something. "You're the Carmanian that fish face was looking for."

"Wait, you're serious?" Shane raised an eyebrow. Skyla chuckled as she moved around, the other two following her.

"Hey, you asked," she shrugged.

"So…what's the deal with fish face?" Kennedi prompted. "He said he wasn't one of Lothor's goons, but he's definitely a threat."

"See what Cyber Cam says," Shane suggested.

"If Cyber Cam can't get a lock on you when you're out here, what makes you think we'll be able to contact him?"

* * *

The walk through the woods was long and seemed to go nowhere. Kennedi barely knew these woods, so she thought it best to stick with Shane and Skyla, figuring the red ranger would at least know where they are and how to get out if need be. Skyla was walking a bit far ahead of the two rangers, so they quickened their pace to catch up to her. "Hey, wait up!" Shane called. "Would you slow down?"

"Then keep up," Skyla shrugged, seeming a bit amused. "And don't be such a whiner."

"Whiner?" Shane raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you just called me?"

"Well, it is true," Kennedi mused. "You do seem to whine a lot."

Shane glared at her before he realized where they were. "Hey, I know this forest."

"You do," Skyla nodded. She motioned in front of them. "Look." The two rangers looked and found a strange dog house like structure that seemed to have a chimney of sorts coming from it.

"This was in my dream," the air ninja realized. "Okay. Now this is really starting to trip me out. What am I doing here?"

"Well, let's just say I owe you one," Skyla stated. "And this is where I pay you back."

"Payback…" a voice that caused the three to turn around and fall defensive spoke. Vexacus appeared before them. "I like the sound of that."

* * *

A/N: I figure here is as good as any place to end this chapter. Anyway, the next one will pick up right where this one left off and head into Shane's Karma Part II. What'll happen then?


	9. Shane's Karma Part II

**New Girl**

**Chapter 9: Shane's Karma**

**Part II**

_A/N: So last time, it was Tori's birthday, and the rangers planned to celebrate. Kennedi had a prior obligation that prevented her from going. A call from Cyber Cam caused her to head into the woods, where she ran into Shane and a human looking alien. Kennedi followed the two on their journey through the forest, the three trying to avoid Vexacus at all costs. What's gonna happen now?_

_This may be short. Five more chapters after this!_

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

The walk through the woods was long and seemed to go nowhere. Kennedi barely knew these woods, so she thought it best to stick with Shane and Skyla, figuring the red ranger would at least know where they are and how to get out if need be. Skyla was walking a bit far ahead of the two rangers, so they quickened their pace to catch up to her. "Hey, wait up!" Shane called. "Would you slow down?"

"Then keep up," Skyla shrugged, seeming a bit amused. "And don't be such a whiner."

"Whiner?" Shane raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you just called me?"

"Well, it is true," Kennedi mused. "You do seem to whine a lot."

Shane glared at her before he realized where they were. "Hey, I know this forest."

"You do," Skyla nodded. She motioned in front of them. "Look." The two rangers looked and found a strange dog house like structure that seemed to have a chimney of sorts coming from it.

"This was in my dream," the air ninja realized. "Okay. Now this is really starting to trip me out. What am I doing here?"

"Well, let's just say I owe you one," Skyla stated. "And this is where I pay you back."

"Payback…" a voice that caused the three to turn around and fall defensive spoke. Vexacus appeared before them. "I like the sound of that."

Kennedi glared as they began backing up. "What do you want here?"

"I already told you," he growled. "The Carmanian!"

"You're way out of your league, Vexacus," Skyla pointed out. "Why don't you just turn around and swim back under whatever rock you came out from?"

Vexacus fired at them, but thanks to Skyla using her powers, the three vanished.

* * *

"Okay," Kennedi breathed as they landed. "I'm going to become sick from that." They were now in a different part of the forest, and once again, Shane and Kennedi were stumbling from the use of the powers, still confused as to what it was.

"Hey, that is one cool trick," Shane grinned. Then his grin faded, as if he realized something else. Skyla was looking around nervously. "You're the one who helped me the first time I ran into Mr. Congeniality."

"Yeah, you can thank me later," the dark haired girl huffed. "But right now, we gotta get moving. I don't have much time left."

Kennedi began following her, but Shane hesitated a bit. "Wait, I don't even know who you are yet."

"Look," Skyla continued, not stopping walking. "We can keep going over this if you want, but it's not going to do us any good."

"Guess not," Shane frowned.

"Dude, why do you look so freaked out?" Kennedi asked, noticing the look on his face.

"It's not like this is the first time you've seen an alien being," Skyla added with a small smile.

"Yeah, but it's the first time I've seen one that looks like you," he corrected.

* * *

After walking for a little while longer, the rangers decided they needed to sit down for a minute. Skyla seemed to sense this and took a seat on a log in front of them. Shane sat beside her and Kennedi sat on his other side. Shane was the first person to speak up. "Today started off as a bad dream. Now it's turned into a full-on nightmare."

"Thanks a lot," Skyla rolled her eyes, amused.

"Sorry," Shane shook his head. "It's been kind of a rough day…even for me." Kennedi just sat back and listened.

"We met before," the darker haired girl said suddenly. "When you were little." Shane frowned as he tried to remember.

When he did, he turned to her. "The spider web. The ball of light? It was you?"

"You saved me from that fish-headed freak," she nodded. "Now I'm here to return the favor."

"What does Vexacus want with you, anyway?" Kennedi asked, trying to become part of the conversation.

"I came here to give you something, Shane," Skyla replied. "And he wants it. But that would be bad, really bad." Before she could do anything else, a hand grabbed Shane and Kennedi by the shoulders and threw them away from Skyla and into the bushes nearby. Skyla was grabbed by Vexacus, and he dragged her away before the other two rangers could do anything.

"Skyla!" Shane shouted.

* * *

Shane and Kennedi had gone chasing after Skyla, trying to figure out what direction to go in. It didn't help that the forest had many trees and no clear path to follow. They had been searching for a while, and so far, they hadn't found anything yet. Shane heard Skyla's voice in his head and began following it. With a roll of her eyes, Kennedi followed him. They came to an open field, and when they saw Vexacus, the two rangers kicked him back, freeing Skyla from his grasp.

"Do not trifle with forces you do not understand," Vexacus grumbled as the two rangers looked ready to fight.

"What's not to get?" Kennedi glared.

"Skyla good," Shane added. "Vexacus not good." Vexacus charged the two and the rangers began fighting. "Run Skyla!" The alien wasted no time in running, but she stopped quickly when she felt a pain shoot through her.

Vexacus noticed this. "It is her time. The power will be mine!" He charged Kennedi and Shane once more, and the two ducked and rolled out of the way, standing near Skyla. "Step aside." He attacked again, and the two ninjas defended themselves until they were knocked down.

"If you're not morphing because you don't want me to see," Skyla groaned. "You're a little late."

"How do you know?" Shane asked.

"I know everything about you," Skyla answered. "Do it."

"It is too late," Vexacus stated as the rangers stood. He kicked them back once more.

"Screw this," Kennedi scoffed. "Ember Storm, Ranger Form!"

"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!" Shane followed.

Now morphed, the rangers turned to Vexacus once more, ready for a fight. They charged as Vexacus came toward them. The two stood on either side of the villain and attacked him, making it difficult for him to attack back. Both were faring far better now that they were in their ranger suits. Shane was kicked back, and Kennedi blocked him from a blow caused by Vexacus's sword. The two launched into a sword fight, and Shane quickly joined in.

Shane put his sword into gold power, and it caused a hard enough blow for Vexacus to stumble back.

"This isn't over yet, Carmanian," Vexacus growled. He vanished into his ship and the ship went invisible.

"Skyla, are you all right?" Kennedi wondered as the two rangers ran over to help her.

"Hurry," the taller girl looked at Shane. "Take me back to where we first met. I don't have much time."

"Okay," Shane nodded. "Come on."

The two rangers helped Skyla walk.

* * *

"So it's true," Shane spoke as he and Kennedi led Skyla through the forest. Shane was telling Kennedi where to go, and she was clearing the path for them. Shane helped Skyla along, the girl still a bit injured. At the moment, the red ranger was trying to figure out what exactly was going on and why exactly Vexacus wanted Skyla. "What Vexacus said. You don't have much time."

"Carmanians change all the time," Skyla stated. "Instead of dying, we pass from one life form to the next."

"That sounds heavy," Kennedi frowned.

"I guess for you," Skyla chuckled. "It probably seems like it, but we're taught at birth that we pass on this life's energy when it's time."

Shane shook his head. "I can't believe out of everyone in this whole universe, you chose me."

"I didn't," Skyla corrected. "You're my destiny. And I am yours."

"What do you mean?" Kennedi asked for the baffled red ranger.

"Well," Skyla answered her. "Ever since he was little, and he saved me from Vexacus, I knew he was the one."

"It always seemed like just a dream," the air ninja muttered.

"Sometimes," Skyla sighed. "We choose to forget what we can't understand. "

"Then I'm seriously going to forget this whole conversation," Shane joked. Skyla seemed confused. "You sure I'm the one?"

The black haired girl nodded. "Only a person of the highest character can handle the power. The red ranger thing is a plus, though." She started to fall, and Shane caught her before she did. They sat on the ground as Kennedi watched. "It's time. We will be linked together forever…by the power I pass on to you. The responsibility is yours. Use it wisely."

The two rangers watched as Skyla's hand began glowing. She touched his morpher, muttered a goodbye to them, and passed out. Before they could do anything, she turned into a glowing ball that turned into a bird. It shot something into Shane's morpher to make it more powerful before vanishing.

Kennedi and Shane shared a look.

* * *

The two ninjas walked in silence. Kennedi didn't know what to say to Shane to make him feel better, and she could tell Shane didn't exactly want to talk. She could understand. He just lost someone he felt a deep connection with, despite knowing Skyla for barely a day. Neither of them paid attention as they walked into the field they fought Vexacus in earlier.

"That was very touching," the alien's voice reached them. "But if I can't get the power from her, I'll get it from you."

"This one's for Skyla," Shane muttered. "Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!"

"Ember Storm, Ranger Form!"

Now morphed, the two rangers charged. Vexacus smirked as the fight began. Kennedi and Shane tried the same tactic they had earlier, one on each side of the alien. Once again, it seemed to be working, as Vexacus had trouble deciding who to attack and when. Swords were constantly clashing between the three. Both rangers were giving the fight all they had. Whenever they were knocked down, they rolled out of the way and got back up before they could be hit. It was evident that Vexacus was becoming frustrated. After begin thrown into the side of a small ledge, they stood and faced Vexacus.

"Face it," the fish huffed. "You're outmatched."

"We're still standing," Kennedi pointed out. Vexacus fired at them, and they ducked. Shane looked at his morpher and got an idea.

"I will not fail!" he growled, standing. Kennedi stood as well. "Battlizer mode, engage!" He pushed a button on his morpher, and it transformed. With a spin of the disk, his suit transformed. The armor became a bit thicker, and he had better protection than before. Vexacus fired at them, and Shane caught the blast.

Kennedi went into the fight and helped him take on Vexacus, even if it didn't look like he needed the help. She watched as Shane practically defeated Vexacus himself, but the alien remained standing. "Holy shit that is awesome!"

"It feels awesome," Shane grinned.

* * *

Once the fight was finally over and Shane showed off his new power up, the rangers found themselves heading back to Ninja Ops. Kennedi was apologizing to Tori for not going to the party after the fundraiser like she said she would, but the older blonde forgave it, saying that the ranger duties were a bit more important than the birthday party. The two girls, Shane, and the Bradley brothers entered Ninja Ops and headed toward Sensei, who sat in his small hut.

"Hey you all right?" Blake asked, looking to the red ranger.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I feel kinda bummed."

"You miss her, don't you?" Tori raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I guess I do," he nodded.

"She will always be with you, Shane," Sensei stated. "Her power lives through you for all eternity."

Shane gave a small smile. "Thanks Sensei."

"Yeah, but can we talk about the Battlizer?" Hunter changed the subject. "How sick, bro!"

"Yeah," Blake agreed. "Now that was the ultimate rush or what, man?"

"It's pretty sick, huh?" Shane chuckled. The girls rolled their eyes.

"You all did well in my absence," Sensei remarked. "I am proud."

"Pity it had to happen on someone's birthday," Kennedi looked to Tori.

Tori shrugged. "Hey, no worries. There'll be more, right?"

"Hey!" Dustin called from where he was entering. "The day's not over yet!" They turned to see the yellow ranger holding a cake with lit candles, his skin orange. Cam joined as well.

"Dude, why?" Kennedi groaned, seeing the color.

"Hey, two orange rangers," Tori joked.

"Ha ha ha," Dustin rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Cyber Cam's gonna be cyber toast next time I see him." He held the cake toward Tori. "Make a wish."

She did so, and the others cheered.

* * *

A/N: So…not the best chapter. Up next, Kennedi's sister comes in, and what will she find out?


	10. Shimazu's Return

**New Girl**

**Chapter 10: Shimazu's Return**

_A/N: So, last time, Tori's birthday was ruined, Dustin was left with orange skin because of a tanning lotion Cyber Cam gave him, Kennedi helped Shane take on Vexacus, a new fish faced villain, and Shane got a power up. Now that that's over, what'll happen? The other rangers will finally meet Kennedi's sister, and learn that Kennedi and Hunter are dating. _

_There probably won't be much fight scenes in this, especially zord ones. _

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

A week later was a school break for everyone, it being spring vacation. Nothing had happened since Tori's birthday had been ruined by Lothor, but the others had helped make it better by going out to eat to celebrate. So far today, the three wind rangers were sitting on the sofa in Storm Chargers, the TV on and playing one of their favorite programs, _Totally Talented. _They had watched the show for years, checking out the different talents people brought to it.

They had yet to see Kennedi, but they knew she was around the place somewhere. The dirty blonde had told them about something big coming up, and she had assured them it was nothing ranger related. They hoped she was telling the truth, but then again, Cam probably would've picked something up if she meant the ranger duties. Dustin, Shane, and Tori were barely two minutes into the show before Kelly caught wind of it and shut it off.

"Hey!" they whined.

"You have to be kidding me," she gave the three a look. "You don't watch this, do you?" The teens remained silent. "This is an action sport shop. There will be no trash TV viewing here. Sorry." She walked away as a dirty blonde haired girl with curly hair wearing a yellow and black shirt and jeans entered the store, walking by.

"Hey Ken," Shane greeted, thinking it was their teammate and not paying attention to the outfit. The girl stopped and turned to them.

"Oh, I'm not…"

She was cut off by Blake, who arrived with Hunter. "Yo, what's up guys?" the navy ranger asked. He noticed the TV was off. "Where's Stu?"

"Denied," Shane answered.

"Oh, well, I was sick of watching it, anyway," Hunter shrugged. Then he noticed the dirty blonde with the group. "Hey Kira."

"Hunter," the girl returned the greeting.

"Okay," Dustin began, looking confused. "First of all, you did not just bag on Stu, and secondly, who's Kira? That's Kennedi."

Kira rolled her eyes. "I'm not Kennedi. She's my sister. I'm Kira." It took the wind rangers a moment to process this new information.

"Wait, Kennedi has a sister?" Dustin blinked, looking at the two beside him. "Why didn't she tell us this before?" Kira rolled her eyes once more while Tori face palmed. Shane decided to change the subject.

"Can we get bag to Hunter bagging on Stu?" he asked.

"I said I was sick of watching it," Hunter answered. "But not being on it."

"So what's the deal?" Shane continued.

"They're looking for future stars," Blake held up the flyer. "That's us. We try out next week." Kira scoffed.

"And what, exactly, do you guys do that doesn't involve a dirt bike?" she challenged.

Blake knew that she only did that to mess with Hunter and rolled his eyes as the wind rangers suppressed laughs. "Hey, we do plenty."

"Oh, I figure you do," Kira shrugged. "But him?" she pointed at Hunter. "Doubtful."

"How much longer to you plan on picking on me?" Hunter glared at her, causing frowns to come across the wind rangers.

"For as long as you're dating my sister," Kira answered.

"Wait, Hunter's dating Kennedi?" Tori raised an eyebrow. "Since when?"

"Since what, a little over a year ago?" Kira looked to the blonde in question.

Hunter rolled his eyes. "One year, two months, and eight days." Everyone present stared at him in shock. "What?"

"Hey, you made it," a new familiar voice entered. They all turned to face Kennedi, who was now standing beside her sister. The wind rangers, who had just recently learned that Kennedi has a sister, were even more shocked now to know that they were identical twins, minor differences being in their clothing choice. Whereas Kira had a yellow shirt on under her black one, Kennedi had an orange shirt. From what they could see, they couldn't find any other differences. The two girls hugged.

"Why would you think otherwise?" Kira wondered.

Kennedi turned to her teammates. "Something wrong with you guys?"

"This is the cloning thing all over again!" Dustin groaned.

"Not clones, Dustin," Tori sighed. "They're twins. Which, by the way, why didn't you tell us you had a twin sister?"

"I thought I did," Kennedi frowned. "Must not have come up like I thought. Anyway, Kira, this is Dustin, Tori, and Shane."

"Earth, water, and air?" Kira guessed, further shocking the wind rangers.

Of course, before the others could argue, Dustin had to speak. "How did you know that?"

"I know Ken is a fire ninja," Kira explained. "Have known since she joined the academy. I know that Hunter and Blake here are thunder ninjas, since they met Kennedi through the academies. From there, I realized that as soon as Kennedi moved here, a ranger from the Ember Academy appeared, and it wasn't hard to put two and two together. And given the fact she told me she made four new friends and ran into Hunter and Blake here, it wasn't hard to match the total number of people she's friends with here to the number of rangers, and I just guessed. I swear I won't say a word about it."

"So what are you doing in town?" Tori looked to the girls.

Kennedi grinned. "We're gonna be on Totally Talented."

"And what do you guys do?" Shane wondered.

"My guess is that they sing or play guitar," Tori mused. "Given the fact Kira's holding a guitar case."

"Well, we gotta go rehearse," Kennedi looped her arm through her sister's. "So I'll see you guys later."

She dragged her sister out of the shop.

* * *

After leaving Storm Chargers, Kira and Kennedi headed for the softball fields, wanting to practice a bit before their next big games coming up. Things were going well for the girls, and they had been planning their appearance on Totally Talented for months, since they first heard about it. Kennedi was the one to tell Hunter and Blake about it, and they passed it on to the others. Once arriving at the fields, they dug out their gloves and a ball and began tossing it back and forth.

"How come you didn't tell me you knew I was ranger before this?" Kennedi asked.

"Didn't come up," Kira shrugged. "Besides, if you wanted me to know, you would've told me."

"It's not that I didn't want you to know and I didn't want to tell you," Kennedi rolled her eyes. "It's part of the three rules a ranger has to follow. We're not supposed to reveal our identities. If someone figures it out on their own or sees one of us morphing, it's a different story."

"Makes sense," Kira mused. "Identities are kept secret so you can live a somewhat normal life. I just didn't believe it at first, but the more times I saw it on the news, I figured it was true."

Kennedi nodded. "So where's mom? Didn't she come with you?"

"She's spending a weekend with her boyfriend's family," Kira sighed. "She figured she would do that and let us catch up and have a sisters weekend or something."

"Boyfriend?" Kennedi frowned. "Since when does she have a boyfriend?"

"She told me they've been going out for almost two years now, and we've never noticed," the other dirty blonde replied. "They didn't want their kids to know, so they always went out somewhere."

"So, what song are we gonna perform?"

* * *

When she got the call for an attack, Kennedi had left her sister with the car keys and headed through the woods. She ended up morphing along the way, and met up with Cam, Tori, Shane, and Dustin, who were also morphed. Together, the five found the disturbance. Three big wolf-like creatures stood in front of them. Hunter and Blake had yet to show, but Cam had given them the alert. The fight had been brutal, and the dogs vanished shortly after the thunder rangers arrived.

Now, all seven were sitting around the table in Ninja Ops, going over the fight. "Take a look at this," Cam turned an open book toward the others. "I saw him – it – at the museum. But it was just a statue."

"So who is this dude, anyway?" Kennedi wondered.

"Shimazu," Sensei answered. "An ancient warlord. What you saw, Cam, was his spirit preserved for centuries in an ancient mask carved in his likeness."

"So what does this guy have to do with those rabid rejects?" Shane asked.

"Shimazu was known for terrorizing people of the local villages with creatures called Wolfblades," Cam replied.

Hunter frowned. "So this guy and his wolves are roaming around Blue Bay Harbor now?" Cam nodded. "How is that possible?"

"I bet that whatever energy source was used to bring back Motodrome rubbed off on Shimazu," the green ranger continued.

"Great," Shane huffed. " Now we got a two thousand year old kabuki dude with an attitude and his three pet wolves running loose in the city."

"Don't forget Lothor," Dustin added.

Tori rolled her eyes. "Trying to look on the bright side?"

"Dustin brings up a good point," Sensei agreed. "If Shimazu has been brought to life by Motodrome, there is a good chance he has already aligned himself with Lothor."

"See?" the earth ninja grinned. "Not so dumb after all."

Before they could do anything else, the alarms went off, causing them all to run to the computer. "What is it?" Shane asked.

"No sign of Shimazu," Cam reported. "But I've got Motodrome on the scanner."

"He's mine," Kennedi declared. "You guys look for the three Wolfblades."

"We'll take the forest," Shane agreed.

"And I'll track what's going on from the samurai star chopper," Cam added.

They all stood and got into position.

"Ninja Storm…"

"Thunder Storm…"

"Ember Storm…"

"Samurai Storm…"

"Ranger Form!"

* * *

The rangers split up after they were morphed. The other six headed out to search for the Wolfblades while Kennedi went out to the warehouse district where Motodrome was. She pulled her bike to a stop in front of him, and Motodrome noticed this. Kennedi was glaring through her visor as the alien. "Welcome to your nightmare, orange ranger!" he greeted. His bike was beside him. "Remember me?" The alien dropped the hood.

"Like I could ever forget that face," Kennedi scoffed.

She started up the cycle again and charged Motodrome as he charged her. Motodrome fired, and Kennedi ducked under it to avoid being hit. After that, Motodrome sped past her moving through the various storage unit type crates. She didn't hesitate to follow him. Throughout the maze of boxes, she continued to be on his tail, making sure to not lose sight of him.

"Glider bike, flight mode, engage!" she called out, setting her bike into flight mode.

The bike transformed to make it look like she was hang-gliding. She soared above and in front of Motodrome, who then stopped and looked up at her. She turned around and locked the lasers on the enemy, firing when she had good aim. Motodrome was shot off his bike and hit the ground. He fired at her, getting a direct hit.

"I'm hit!" she called. "I'm hit!" The bike went spiraling down out of the way, landing with a crash.

"_Kennedi, are you okay?" _Cam asked over the communicators. _"Can you hear me?" _

"I'm fine," she stumbled out of the wreckage. "But my bike's going to need a little body work. Can you get a fix on Motodrome? He disappeared." She was struggling to stand.

"_I'm working on it," _the green ranger assured. _"But nothing yet."_

Kennedi sighed.

* * *

"You've all done well," Sensei spoke to the rangers as they were back in Ninja Ops. Kennedi was leaning against Hunter, who was helping her stand straight. "But I'm afraid Shimazu has proven himself a worthy opponent." They were all sore from the fight, the enemy having done a number on them. Everyone had taken on who they were supposed to, and Shane had fought off Motodrome when he was spotted once more.

"No kidding," Dustin agreed. "Those wolves were dogging us big time."

"Unfortunately," Cam sighed as an image appeared on the monitors. "They're not done." The image showed one giant Wolfblade with three heads, megazord size.

"No way," Tori went wide eyed.

"You've got to be kidding me," Shane groaned.

Kennedi grimaced. "That's one ugly mutt."

"Man," Hunter huffed. "The leash laws in this town need some serious work."

"You guys better get out there," Cam instructed. "Before it decides to make the federal building into a chew toy."

The wind and thunder rangers morphed before heading out to fight. Since she didn't have a zord, Kennedi remained in Ninja Ops with Cam. Both stood by the monitor, keeping an eye on the zord fight. As much as Kennedi wished she had a zord to help them out, she didn't mind getting to stay behind. From what they could tell, the fight was tougher than normal.

* * *

The Wolfblade had survived the attacks the rangers sent to them, so Cam teleported the five others back to Ninja Ops. They all arrived, standing up and still in morph. They powered down and felt like collapsing, the fight having taken a lot out of them. Cam got to work on the zord repairs before standing in front of all of them.

"Okay, listen up, everybody," he got their attention. "The zords should be back online by tomorrow at the latest, but we're going to need reinforcements."

"Well, I'm open to any suggestions on how we deal with these freaks," Shane shrugged.

"I have one," the green ranger continued. "Dad, I think this is a pretty clear case of emergency."

"Say no more, Cam," Sensei agreed. "You have my permission." The door behind Cam slid open and he walked inside, going to retrieve the box. Everyone knew he had gotten it from the museum earlier, but none of them knew what was inside it.

"We're finally going to see what the big deal is," Blake grinned.

Hunter smirked. "Anyone wanna take bets?"

"Really old sword," Kennedi mused.

"Or a cool fighting staff," Blake added. Cam walked back in and set the box on the table, opening it.

"Hey, just what we need," Tori sighed. "Another ancient scroll."

"Hey, uh, Cam," Shane began as the green ranger opened the scroll. "I just wanted to ask…" The green ranger shushed him. "Okay…well, maybe we'll just leave you alone."

Blake decided to ask what was on everyone's mind. "So what do we do while we wait for the dog pound."

"Be strong," the guinea pig advised. "And stay alert."

* * *

With the ok to leave Ninja Ops, Kennedi had gone back to Storm Chargers, where she knew her sister would be waiting to rehearse some more. In a sense, she was glad Kira had figured out that she was a ranger, since it meant there were no more secrets between them and she didn't have to dance around the subject. On the other hand, she wished her sister didn't know because it could cause trouble in the future.

"So how'd it go?" Kira asked as soon as Kennedi took a seat on the couches beside her. Both had their guitars ready.

"Exhausting," Kennedi sighed. "My fancy bike got wrecked, and I couldn't help the others fight the fifty foot freak because I don't have a zord, and I got caught in my bike wreckage."

"Sounds fun," Kira smirked.

"Yup," Kennedi grinned. "So, what are we going to play?"

Kira shrugged. "No idea. I mean, we have a few songs worked out, but I don't know which one we should use."

"What about the one I sent you lyrics for?" Kennedi suggested. "You told me you worked out the tune for it, so let's try that."

"I like the sound of it," Kira spoke.

Before they could do anything, Kennedi's morpher went off.

* * *

"Let me get this straight," Tori spoke slowly as the rangers stood around Ninja Ops. Cam had just finished explaining why he called them back there, and none of them were exactly processing what they just learned. From what they could tell, what Cam was asking seemed counterproductive to what they were trying to do. "You want _what?_"

"Your power discs," Cam repeated.

"I know I'm the slow one," Dustin frowned. "But doesn't that mean we'll have no powers?"

"Yes, but only until I return," Cam nodded.

Blake seemed hesitant. "Yeah, I don't know if that's such a great idea."

"Yeah," Hunter agreed. "I kind of like knowing I can kick some space ninja butt…if I have to."

"I understand your hesitation, rangers," Sensei said. "But it is the only way."

"How does giving up our power discs help us defeat Shimazu?" Kennedi wondered.

"To defeat his Wolfblades," Sensei explained. "We must open the portal to the ancient world your seven power discs are the only entity powerful enough to do that."

"Yo," Cyber Cam called as he walked out.

Cam looked at his teammates. "Look, if anything happens, Cyber Cam can activate the zords. You can still operate them. You'll just be in civilian form." Kennedi was first to hand over her disc, seeing no problem with it given the fact she didn't have a zord. Reluctantly, the others followed suit.

"We'll be ready," Shane assured.

"Well, wish me luck," Cam sighed, turning to leave.

While the others had gone out to fight off the giant Wolfblades, Kennedi had remained in Ninja Ops with Cyber Cam. The real Cam had reappeared in the fight with the new power up that had helped them take down the Wolfblades. The rangers gained a new zord thanks to the upgrade Cam had found, and unfortunately for Kennedi, it was one she couldn't use.

* * *

Now, with the fight done for the day, the rangers could relax. It was the next day, the day they would be going on Totally Talented. Thankfully, Lothor wouldn't send an attack out so soon, or so they hoped. Five of the seven rangers were standing in a circle backstage. Kennedi and Kira were a bit off to the side from them, both wearing the same outfit with minor differences (Kennedi being in orange, Kira in yellow) and practicing a few chords on their guitars.

"Hey, you made it," Tori smiled as she spotted Cam enter, guitar in his hands.

"Are you sure it's not Cyber Cam?" Blake questioned.

"It's the real me," Cam assured.

"Uh, that thing's not going to summon up any ancient mammoth robots or anything is it?" Hunter wondered, spotting the instrument.

"It might," Cam shrugged. "I've been known to rock a few worlds."

Shane snorted. "Big words, little man. Hey, but don't feel too bad when you come in…second."

"Or third," Dustin added in. "Or fourth…or even fifth."

* * *

The music for the show started up, and those participating in it took their places. They all sat in the audience as they waited for their turn to come up. Stu made the introduction before Tori went up and performed her dance routine. Shane followed her by singing a song. Dustin went on with his saxophone, and it was rather good. Cam followed it by playing his guitar. Once he was done, Hunter and Blake revealed their talent. Blake played the turntables while Hunter rapped. When they finished, Kira and Kennedi to their places on the stage, microphone stands set in front of them. Not knowing they could sing, the rangers were all curious to see how this would go.

Kira and Kennedi played the start of the song before the latter began singing.

"_[Kennedi]  
And it goes like this  
yeah yeah  
yeah yeah  
yeah yeah  
yeah yeah_

_[Kira]  
I can't tell you why  
but I can't stop  
thinking about you baby  
oh yeah_

_[Kennedi]  
Don't you think it's time  
I walked around  
every word you're saying  
oh yeah_

_[Kira]  
I'm trying hard  
to figure out  
tell me what  
it's all about_

_[Both]  
'cause I don't wanna  
freak you out  
freak you out  
freak you out_

_I wanna know  
know where you're at  
I'm at the front  
but you're still  
at the back  
oh  
can you tell me where  
tell me where you're at_

_Freak you out  
freak you out  
freak you out  
freak you out  
freak you out  
freak you out…"_

The girls finished their song and were met with applause from the audience as they retook their seats behind the other rangers, all who seemed impressed. Stu appeared back on stage and introduced the final act. The rangers were surprised to see Marah and Kapri, looking normal, on stage, dancing and singing. To Kira and Kennedi, something about the song seemed familiar. While the other rangers watched with shock, Kennedi turned to her sister.

"Something does not seem right, don't you think?"

"You mean like how they sound exactly like…"

"Yep," Kennedi smirked, her sister mirroring it. "And I can see why," she pointed out to where a pink radio was sitting on a stool, hidden by a small curtain. "Come on."

Without being noticed, Kira and Kennedi snuck over to where the radio was as Stu declared Marah and Kapri the winners.

"We knew it," Kira smirked, picking it up and holding it for everyone to see. Attention was drawn to the girls. "Do you guys want to try that again?" Kennedi hit the play button and let the song play before stopping it.

"Without the CD player?" she raised an eyebrow.

"There are real voices," Kapri claimed as the two girls walked back over to their seats.

"Yeah, with a little enhancement," Marah added.

Kapri huffed. "Well, hey, if we can't win, nobody wins!" Using her powers, she fired at Stu, causing his clothes to become singed. The girls stormed off the stage.

"I am sick of working with amateurs," Stu grumbled. He walked away, angry.

"So, does that mean nobody wins today?" Dustin wondered.

"Oh, I don't know, Dustin," Cam replied. "I think we're all winners."

The others began messing with him for saying a cheesy line.

* * *

A/N: So as I said before, most of the two part episodes will be combined into one, especially if most of the fighting among those episodes involves the zords a lot. I don't plan on Kennedi getting a zord until Dino Thunder, so yeah…Anyway, what'd you guys think of making me have Kira know her sister is a ranger?


	11. Eye of the Storm

**New Girl**

**Chapter 11: Eye of the Storm**

_A/N: Since the next two episodes following the Shimazu arc don't have a lot of places for me to put Kennedi into, I've skipped "Wild Wipe Out" and "Double Edged Blake." So now, here's the next chapter, where the rangers get to face their fears. I will recap what I didn't write. Unfortunately, this story hasn't been turning out how I wanted it to from the beginning, which is why it won't be as long as it could be. The ideas I have for it no longer seem to agree with me when I go to type them, so this story is coming to an end soon. I promise the Dino Thunder sequel will be longer, and will have more adventures. _

_Anyway, what do the rangers have to fear?_

_Also, both of the poll results is revealed in this chapter!_

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

A couple weeks after Shimazu appeared, June was well on its way. There had been a couple more attacks since then, but it was nothing the rangers couldn't handle. Tori had gone surfing and wiped out, ending up in a parallel dimension where rangers were evil and alien beings were good. It had taken a while to find her, and when they did, they managed to destroy the alien freak that was attacking the city.

The following attack had been when Blake introduced a new weapon and they got a bit of help from a former thunder ninja student. It had proven to be a useful weapon when it came to destroying a monster that liked balloons. The rangers had also noticed Tori and Blake getting closer between the two attacks.

It was now a new week and a new day. Some of the rangers were at Storm Chargers, waiting for Shane to show up. Kennedi was waiting for a couple other people to arrive, and because of it, she had to skip out on ninja training today. It wasn't like she could do it, anyway. They were doing tsunami cycle training, and the glider cycle wasn't exactly meant for training.

"See you tomorrow, guys," Kelly spoke to her employees, who were still there. She was running out to do errands, but the shop would be closed for the day.

"See ya Kel," they returned, speaking as one. The red head left the shop.

"Where's Shane?" Dustin demanded. "Tsunami cycle training is, like, the one class I never want to be late for."

"There he is," Hunter pointed to where the red ranger was entering the shop. Shane entered and walked over to the four, not looking happy.

"What's up?" Dustin wondered. "You don't look so good."

Shane sighed. "Yeah, I just found out my big brother's coming to town."

"Yeah, that'd bum me out too," Blake joked. "No, man, for real, what's the matter?"

"It's just," Shane bit his lip. "You know, he's like the perfect son. He's successful, he's got a great job, nice house. He's not much into skateboarding."

"Why doesn't he try motocross?" the yellow ranger suggested.

Kennedi rolled her eyes. "I don't think that's the point, Dustin." They all started heading for the door and heard a car beeping. "That's my ride."

"Ride?" Blake frowned. "Where are you going?"

"Apparently my mom got engaged to a man she's been dating for a couple years now," Kennedi grumbled. "I have to go to the engagement party, where I get to meet the kid who's going to be my stepbrother, my mom's fiancé, and a couple other people in his family. My uncle's picking me up, so I really gotta go. Call me if something comes up."

She gave Hunter a quick kiss before taking off for the red car sitting in the parking lot. The boys watched as she climbed in the back seat, the front occupied by a man and a woman wearing either red or yellow. Once they drove off, the boys started making their way to training.

"Anyway, it'll take more than some big air to mellow out my brother," Shane stated.

* * *

Kennedi wasn't exactly happy about having to go to her mother's engagement party. It was taking place in a fancy restaurant on the outskirts of Blue Bay Harbor. It was close enough that Kennedi could easily sneak away in case she needed to, but it was still far enough it would take some time to get there. She was quiet on the drive over, and her Uncle Jason noted it. He decided to start a conversation.

"So, Ken, how's the softball going?" he asked as they continued the drive. His wife, Trini, rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she shrugged. "Not much happening. Still winning almost every game."

"You know, Zack's been noticing a change in you," Jason continued. His friend Zack Taylor was Kennedi's coach on the Blue Bay Harbor team, and the two men had exchanged stories about their teams. Zack had told Jason about Kennedi's behavior and how it reminded him of what they used to be. The former red figured this would be as good a time as any to figure it out for sure.

"Jason," Trini warned.

The man shrugged. "What?"

"What change?" Kennedi frowned.

"He said that you tend to leave practice early quite a bit, making up lame excuses," Jason stated. "He's just concerned."

"Well, there's nothing to worry about," Kennedi assured. "Why?"

Trini decided to take over. "He's just noticed some familiar behavior, and I think I know why."

"What do you mean?" Kennedi looked at her aunt, curious.

"Ken, you can't expect two former rangers to not notice the morpher you're wearing," the former yellow pointed out, motioning to the device Kennedi still had on her wrist. "Zack was questioning your behavior because it's how we used to act when we had to leave for an attack."

"You guys were all former rangers?" Kennedi asked, shocked. The two adults nodded as she pocketed her morpher into her bag. "Who else was?"

"Zack, Kim, Tommy, Billy," Jason listed. "Pretty much all of us that babysat you and Kira when your mom and dad went out and from before you guys moved to Reefside. Your mother was always thankful for us for watching you two, especially once your father died."

"And after we left for the peace conference, she moved to Reefside," Trini put in. "We don't think she knows about us, but I wouldn't be surprised if she did. Does Kira know about this? I mean, Jase and I know you're a ninja, and we know your mom and Kira know that, but…"

"Kira knows about me," Kennedi rolled her eyes. "She figured it out, though."

Jase smirked. "So, what's your team like? No boys I have to protect you from?"

"Uncle Jason!" Kennedi groaned.

"Your team is quite odd, though," Trini remarked. "I've noticed that there's no pink, there's two odd colors, and that the blue uniform has a skirt and the yellow doesn't."

"Because yellow is a guy, and blue is a girl," Kennedi answered. "Dustin is yellow, Shane is red, Tori's blue, Blake's navy, and Cam's green."

"Then who was that other boy in crimson that you were kissing?" Jason questioned, only to earn a smack on his shoulder from Trini.

Kennedi bit her lip. Despite having dating for a bit over a year, she had never told her uncle about her being in a relationship. Since her father died, her uncle had become the father figure in her and her sister's life, but both knew that he wasn't actually their father. "Hunter, the crimson ranger…and my boyfriend…"

"Aw, that's so sweet," Trini commented. "And he was pretty cute, too. How did you two meet?"

"The ninja academies," Kennedi stated. "He's a thunder ninja, and our academies did a few training things together, and we just started dating a little over a year ago."

"Which means it's definitely long overdue for me to meet him," Jason huffed.

"He'll pass your expectations," Kennedi declared.

"And what makes you say that?" the former red raised an eyebrow as they pulled into the parking lot.

"He's enlisted to the army," she smirked, getting out of the car.

Jason couldn't argue with that.

* * *

Inside the restaurant, the three were led to a room near the back, which was used for private functions like this engagement party. They entered the room, and a little girl about seven years old came running up to Kennedi. Kira was trailing the young blonde, and the child reached Kennedi and hugged her legs, hiding behind her cousin. "Gia, what did you do now?"

"Nothing," the young girl hid.

"She's being her usual pain in the ass," Kira huffed, approaching. "Aunt Jess put me in charge of watching her during this, so that's what I'm doing."

"I'm not a pain!" Gia pouted, stepping out to face her cousins. "I just want to run around."

"Which is the problem right there," Kennedi laughed. "This is a fancy party. So, who's the man mom's marrying?"

Kira pointed to where their mother and her fiancé were now talking to Jason and Trini. The man with their mother had sandy blonde hair and was a bit taller than their mother, and looked pretty fit for his age. "He's over there. Name's Christopher Rhodes. His late wife died after losing a lot of blood in a miscarriage when his son was seven."

"That sucks," Kennedi winced. "How old is his son now?"

"Well," Kira tried to think. "Mom said he's about a year older than us, so if we're seventeen, that would make him roughly eighteen. His name's Casey. By the way, what do you plan to do if…" a beeping was heard. "That happens?"

"You're covering for me," Kennedi smirked. "Tell them I had to go to the bathroom or something."

Kira rolled her eyes as she and Gia watched Kennedi take off.

"Kira, where is Kenny going?"

* * *

After getting the call, Kennedi ninja streaked as fast as she could to where Cam told her the attack was. She morphed on her way there so she wouldn't have to worry about doing so if she arrived late. When she got to the attack sight, she jumped right in to help fight off Kelzaks. Shane was the only ranger not present yet. Kennedi also saw an ugly looking alien that was firing things at random people, Motodrome assisting him.

"What's the deal with big and ugly?" Kennedi wondered as she was fighting near Tori.

"He shoots these strange collar things at people," Tori answered. "Don't know what they do, but it doesn't look pretty."

"Duck!" Kennedi warned, and the two girls ducked down as Eyesac fired. Instead of the blast hitting the girls, it hit a couple of Kelzaks.

Shane came running onto the scene, and Hunter noticed. "Glad you could make it. Join the party."

"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!" Shane morphed and joined in the fight.

None of them noticed his brother watching from behind a pillar.

* * *

Once the issue was dealt with, Kennedi ninja streaked back to the restaurant, sneaking in unnoticed. The others had gone back to Ninja Ops, and she told them to call if they needed her. When she entered the room, she spotted her sister talking to a guy around their age and walked over to them. The guy seemed to look a lot like their mother's fiancé, so she assumed this was his son. "There you are," Kira breathed a sigh of relief. "I was beginning to think you'd fallen in."

"And how would that be possible?" Kennedi frowned. Kira shrugged. "I got a call from Hunter, so that's why it took so long."

"Don't you see him enough?" the other dirty blonde groaned. Kennedi knew it was only a cover, and Kira knew that she would be filled in later. "Anyway, this is Casey, Chris's son."

"Kennedi," the orange ranger greeted. "So, did you know about our parents' relationship?"

"Only for a couple weeks," Casey shrugged. "I'm still trying to get used to it."

Kira nodded. "We were just talking about sports. Apparently Casey loves baseball as much as we love softball."

"Well, at least that means you're not completely boring," Kennedi joked. "What position do you play?"

"Catcher," Casey replied. "Kira tells me that you're both pitchers for Blue Bay and Reefside, and that you also do soccer and lacrosse."

"I also do a bit of motocross on the side," Kennedi added. "Nothing professional, though. So, you got a girlfriend?"

"I'm more worried about getting through school before I start dating," Casey chuckled. A beeping could be heard. "What's that beeping?"

Kennedi dug out her phone as the beeping continued. "My phone. I have to take this."

Kira sighed as he sister left once more.

* * *

By the end of the day, the rangers were back where they belonged. Shane was on good terms with his brother, his brother having found out about him being a power ranger. Tori, Shane, and Dustin had all gotten trapped in a nightmare collar, which caused them to see their fears. Destroying the monster had gone how it usually did, Kennedi sitting out during the zord fight.

Most of the rangers were watching Kennedi's softball game, which was against Reefside once more. They had nothing better to do at the moment. Shane was at the skate park with his brother, and the others had decided to watch the softball game. The rangers sat together in the bleachers, watching as Kennedi's team was out in the field.

"Who's winning again?" Dustin asked.

"It's hard to tell," Hunter shrugged. "Especially when Kennedi and Kira are facing against each other."

"I still can't believe you never told us you guys were dating," Tori pointed out.

Hunter rolled his eyes. "It wasn't like we were trying to hide it, and we weren't trying to flaunt it either."

"I'm still amazed you know _exactly _how long you two have been dating," Blake chuckled. "It was kinda creepy."

"Shut up."

* * *

A/N: Ending it here. Not really sure what happened with the last scene. Anyway, if you paid close enough attention, you see that I brought in former and future rangers. Yes, Jason is Kennedi's uncle. I had that planned from the beginning. I thought it'd be cool to do another story and have an OC related to an original ranger that wasn't Tommy. That's going to have an effect in the next story. Also, these are the poll results, as for who would eventually be related to Kennedi and Kira (remember, you could choose two – one guy, one girl):

_Gia – 6_

_Casey – 4_

_Tori, Dustin, Chip – 2_

_Ronny, Troy, Mike – 1_

_Lily, Emily – 0._

Since Gia and Casey had the highest amount of votes, I made Gia Kennedi and Kira's younger cousin (for the sake of this series, Jason had two older sisters, Gia's mom and Kira and Kennedi's mom), and made Casey their future stepbrother.

Hope you liked this chapter!


	12. General Deception

**New Girl**

**Chapter 12: General Deception**

_A/N: So last time, not much happened. I only have a few more chapters left in this story before I move on to Dino Thunder. The rangers faced their fears and Kennedi's uncle and aunt discovered her ranger status. She met her future stepbrother, and you guys saw the poll results. Now, just because I have Gia as their cousin doesn't mean I'm going to do a Megaforce story for this series. What'll happen now when the rangers go camping?_

_This chapter might be short and may act as more of a filler._

_Also, to **MF 22, **I do have Casey being that old. I know he's not meant to portray a twenty something year old in Jungle Fury, but in most of my AU series, such as this one, he's in his early twenties, as are the rest of the rangers. Basically, my thinking is that if the season doesn't show them in school or something like Dino Thunder, MMPR, and MegaForce do, then they're either meant to seem as if they're in college or not in school (may not be the case, but that's how my mind takes it).Also, the actor who played Casey was in his early twenties when he filmed Jungle Fury. I do love your supportive comments, and he won't be already in his early twenties for JF stories in other series I plan to write, but for this one, since it is kind of AU, he is. Other than that, I appreciate you bringing up that point and I thank you for being a constant reviewer._

_And though I don't always thank/recognize/respond to reviews personally, I do want you to know that I do read each review I get, and I do appreciate the reviews and I do appreciate those who just read and don't review for reading my stories. So thank you, for reading and/or reviewing._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

A week later and summer vacation had started up. There had yet to be an attack from Lothor since the nightmare collar one, and the rangers had planned a camping trip. Tori was going to be driving them to the camp site. Kennedi was going with the boys, but she and her sister had volunteered to take their young cousin camping along with one of her friends. At the moment, the boys were loading up Tori's van with their gear.

While the guys were doing that, Kennedi and Kira were already at the campsite. They had set up the tent for them and their cousin and their cousin's friend. They had promised the mothers they would keep the girls from harm, since they had heard about the attacks going on. Gia and her friend, Emma, were sitting by the stream. They had gotten here early so they could spend the day in nature.

"Girls, be careful," Kira warned as she saw they were by the stream. "We don't want you getting hurt."

"Your mothers will kill us if you do," Kennedi added before her phone went off. "Yeah?"

"_Had a little encounter with Kelzaks," _Hunter's voice spoke.

"And you didn't think to call me to help?" the dirty blonde raised an eyebrow.

"_Sorry," _Hunter apologized. _"But we handled it. We're on our way there now."_

Kennedi sighed. "We'll see you when you get here." She hung up and Kira looked to her questioningly. "They ran into a little Kelzak trouble. They're heading here now."

"Great," Kira rolled her eyes.

* * *

Soon enough, Tori arrived with the guys. Kira and Kenned helped them set up their stuff while keeping an eye on the two little girls with them. Once everything was set up, the girls stepped back and noticed the campsite looked nothing like a camp. To them, it looked more like a resort in the woods, homemade style. "You've got to be kidding," Tori demanded as Shane set up the TV.

"Now this," Shane grinned. "Is the life."

"This isn't camping," Kira frowned. "This is a resort."

"All you need is a water slide and a luau," Kennedi added.

"That would be cool," Dustin commented, turning on the TV.

Hunter stood. "Hey, anyone wanna order a pizza?"

"Yeah, I'm in," Blake agreed. "Except none of that ham and pineapple stuff."

"Fine," Hunter grabbed his cell phone. "No signal. Looks like we're having hamburgers.

"I think you guys are missing the point," Tori huffed.

"The point is to have fun," Blake corrected. "You sure you don't want to stay?"

"Thanks, but I gotta get back," Tori declined. "Cam needs some help at Ninja Ops." She moved to her van. "I'll be back to pick you guys up the day after tomorrow. Bye."

"See ya Tor," the others waved.

Kennedi and Kira headed back over to the girls as Tori got in her van.

* * *

Tori stayed back for a bit as the boys cleaned up. The van had been stuck, and the guys had gotten it out only for the blonde to run over their generator and cause the boys to be all muddy. The five girls were sitting by the stream, watching the sodas cool down and talking. Emma, Gia's friend, was taking pictures of the scenery with her camera. Gia was pointing out things to take pictures of. Tori had also put burgers on the grill for the guys.

"Aw man," Dustin groaned as the boys reappeared. The girls stood and faced them. "I haven't had that much mud in my eyes since I ran out of tear-offs last week."

"You guys, I'm so sorry about the generator," Tori apologized.

"It's not your fault," the navy ranger assured. "Things happen."

"How was the shower?" Kennedi asked.

"You could say it was refreshing…"

Hunter interrupted the red ranger. "But _cold _would be more accurate."

"Well, I know this doesn't make it up to you," the water ninja sighed. "But your burgers are on the grill, and your sodas are getting cold in the stream."

"Sounds good to me," Blake grinned, opening the grill. "You're forgiven."

They all looked up as a strange sound caught their attention.

"Come on," Shane ordered. The ninjas followed it, disappearing from sight.

Gia looked up at her cousin. "Kira, what just happened?"

"Kennedi went to go find out," Kira sighed. "Come on. Let's get you girls inside the tent where it's safe."

* * *

The rangers came to a quarry, where Vexacus and Shimazu were waiting for them. The six rangers found it to be no surprise. Kennedi was glad she could help out this time instead of sitting back and waiting. She knew she would have to explain to her sister what was going on and come up with an excuse for the girls, but she could make something believable. "I thought I smelled garbage," Hunter commented.

"Oh, we'll see who gets trashed," Vexacus challenged.

"Hey, uh, no offense," Kennedi spoke up. "But you two don't seem like the outdoor types."

"We're not," Vexacus agreed. "We just came to watch your ultimate demise."

"Don't you mean cause our ultimate demise?" Tori frowned.

Vexacus smirked. "Okay. I like your way better." He fired at the six, causing them to duck out of the way.

"Just when you thought it was safe to have a day off," Shane muttered. "Ready?"

"Ready," they all got into formation.

"Ninja Storm…"

"Thunder Storm…"

"Ember Storm…"

"Ranger Form! Ninja Ranger Power!"

Shane, Dustin, and Tori set off on fighting Vexacus while Hunter, Blake, and Kennedi took on Shimazu. All of them were using their swords, but the two villains were proving to be tougher than the rangers originally thought. Vexacus kept knocking the wind rangers down, but they kept getting back up to attack. They formed the Storm Striker, only for Vexacus to shoot it out of their hands and knock them around a bit.

Blake, Kennedi, and Hunter all had their own weapons drawn. Blake attacked first with his antlers, only for Shimazu to throw him off with a few punches. Hunter put his thunder staff into the tornado star mode and fired. Shimazu vanished as he was hit, reappearing as a giant floating head that attacked them. He shot them down, and Kennedi used her bow to shoot him.

Vexacus and Shimazu stood side by side, facing the rangers. "It seems you have met your match," the clown cackled.

"You are finished, rangers," Vexacus added. Before they could do anything, the two aliens were shot down. The rangers looked to see Cam joining them, already morphed.

"I've picked up something on the radar heading this way," he warned.

"Worse than these two super freaks?" Shane wondered.

"Yeah," the green ranger nodded. "Way worse."

Vexacus spoke up. "Hey, rangers. Nobody's worse than we are."

"I would have to agree," Shimazu added.

"No one messes up my weekend," Kennedi huffed. Combining all their weapons, the rangers formed the bigger one. They all got ready and fired it. The villains deflected it, causing it to hit the rangers. Cam moved to check on them.

The ground began shaking and they all looked up to see some sort of megazord. "It's Zurgane," Cam realized.

"Aw, not again," Shane groaned.

"Fight me if you dare," Zurgane challenged.

"Haven't you had enough failure for one day?" Shimazu called up to the villain.

The rangers with zords got into their megazord, leaving Kennedi to deal with Shimazu and Vexacus.

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Kira asked as soon as she saw Kennedi make it back to the campsite. The orange ranger had left her teammates to fight off Zurgane, since Vexacus and Shimazu had vanished after she fought them off. Her teammates were still fighting Zurgane, but where she didn't have a zord, there was nothing she could do to help.

"What do you think?" Kennedi retorted. "Nothing unusual that hasn't happened before."

"They getting stronger?" Kira frowned.

"Three generals attacked us," Kennedi nodded. "I stopped two once the others got locked in that." She pointed over her shoulder to where they could barely see the megazords standing.

"Yikes," the other dirty blonde winced. "Well, hopefully, this'll work out."

Kennedi agreed. "Now, where are Gia and Emma?"

"Girls, come on!" Kira called, drawing them out of the tent. Emma had her camera with her, ready to go on the hike they were promised. "We're gonna have to take a different hiking trail around here."

"Why?" Emma wondered. "What's wrong with the other one?"

"There's something going on down there, and it's not a sight for young girls like you two," Kennedi answered. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either. "The path we're going to take is even better, anyway."

"Then let's go," Gia suggested. "It's going to get dark soon, isn't it?"

Kira shrugged. "She's got a point."

* * *

The girls reached the campsite as night fell, seeing the guys there all worn out. Tori had gone back to Ninja Ops with Cam once the fight was over. From what the four girls could see, the boys' side of the campsite was pretty trashed. The boys looked like they had tried finding food but it didn't turn out too well. Gia and Emma headed for the girls tent to get out the hot dogs for dinner while Kira and Kennedi walked over to the boys.

"How's the whole nature thing working out for ya?" Kennedi smirked.

"It sucks," Dustin huffed. "The campsite was trashed when we got back. Stupid birds…"

"And trying to find food didn't do anything to help?" Kira raised an eyebrow.

"I'm surprised they actually went looking for food," Kennedi grinned.

"Hey!" Blake cried. "We do know how to survive out here!"

Kira rolled her eyes. "Sure. That's why you needed a portable generator. None of you would last a day on the show _Survivor._"

"Well what are you guys doing for food?" Shane challenged. "We didn't see you guys come prepared."

"Roasting hot dogs over an open fire," Kennedi answered. "Classic camping thing. If you're that hungry, you're welcome to join us. God knows you won't make it to breakfast without eating something."

* * *

Come morning, the girls woke to hearing a megazord fight going on. Kennedi made a discreet call to Ninja Ops, where Sensei had told her there was nothing she could do at the moment but make sure her sister, Gia, and Emma didn't somehow get caught in it. Kennedi wished she could do more to help, since she hadn't been a ranger as long as the others and hadn't done a lot yet, but she knew that in a megazord fight all she could do was watch and help from wherever she was.

After eating something for breakfast, Kira and Kennedi took the younger girls on a hike down the original path they had found. Kennedi got a call on her morpher and had made an excuse to get away. When she was gone, she was teleported into Ninja Ops, where the others were already there. On the mainframe screen was Zurgane in his zord, attacking the city.

"He's using our powers to attack the city," Shane observed.

"We've got to get back out there," Hunter added.

"I need more time before the zords will be ready to battle again," Cam stated as Sensei jumped on Dustin's head before landing on the desk.

Tori frowned. "How are we going to fight that thing without the zords?"

"Think, rangers," Sensei advised. "What other resources are at your disposal?"

"What about the gliders?" Dustin suggested.

"And the tsunami cycles," Blake agreed.

"Excellent thinking," Sensei nodded. "Individually your weapons would be overpowered, but together, your resources will be significant. Kennedi, you will stay here and help Cam get the zords running again."

Kennedi nodded as the others made their way to leave. When they had morphed and left, the green and orange rangers got to work on the zords.

"We'd better work fast," Cam muttered.

* * *

By the end of the day, the rangers had managed to stop Zurgane's attack and destroy his zord. Kennedi watched the zord portion of the fight from Ninja Ops, advising the rangers on different combinations they could try. It had worked out in the end, and those who were on the camping trip went back to it for the night. The next morning, the four girls were up to greet Tori and Cam as the two ninjas pulled onto the sight. The four boys were all sleeping in chairs, blankets wrapped around them.

"I can't believe you all still wanted to go camping after all this," Tori remarked to Kennedi. "I just want to go to sleep."

"Me too," Cam agreed. "I just didn't want them thinking I was…"

"Lame?" Kira and Kennedi finished. "They beat you to it." They pointed to the guys.

"I bet Zurgane's in worse shape than them," Cam chuckled.

"No doubt," the girls agreed.

* * *

A/N: Not the best chapter, but it works. Two more left before I move on to Dino Thunder, where there will probably be a lot more drama. What'll happen next?


	13. New Girl

**New Girl**

**Chapter 13: Gem of a Day**

_A/N: Since I usually do "Down and Dirty" instead of "Gem of a Day," I figured I would do this episode instead this time, mainly because I can fit more Kennedi/Hunter moments into it. There's only one chapter left after this, and I know the story is short, but hey, the next one will be longer, I swear! But I just want to get this story over with because there's more I can do with the Dino Thunder story in this series than I can with this story._

_Oh, for the sake after this story, the Down and Dirty episode would've taken place before this one in order for what I have planned to make sense. _

_Anyway, what'll happen? This chapter may be short._

_I know I haven't updated in a few days, but it feels like much longer to me. It's only my second day of school and I'm already feeling stressed out between that, work, homework, finishing summer reading, and finishing college applications. I haven't found time to continue writing my stories, but thankfully, I have some chapters pre-written._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

A couple weeks after the camping trip had the rangers out doing their own thing. Kennedi's softball season was over, meaning she had no more games to play until the fall. With nothing to do, she had been helping Cam and Sensei out at Ninja Ops. She was the only other one on the team that knew enough about computers to help with configuring things, thanks to one of her uncle's friends babysitting her and her sister a few times.

At the moment, Kennedi was out in a nearby quarry, searching for a strange source of radiation that Cam had picked up on the monitors. Something didn't seem right, and they sent Kennedi out to explore it. She had a device that would pick up on the signals, and when she got closer, she checked in with Cam. "I'm getting close to the source of the radiation surge," she spoke into her communicator.

"_Good work, Kennedi," _Sensei replied.

"_Until we know for certain the cause of the disturbance, you must be careful," _Cam warned.

Kennedi nodded and continued her walk, searching for the source. As she looked around, she saw something unexpected and frowned. The dirty blonde cautiously made her way over to the dirt bike and to where Hunter was sitting on a rock nearby. When she approached, Hunter appeared to be digging something up.

"Lose something?" she called, placing a hand on his shoulder. Startled, Hunter tried to flip her over, but she was faster and managed to land on her feet. "You need to lay off the caffeine."

"Sorry, Ken," Hunter sighed.

"What are you doing out here, anyway?" Kennedi wondered.

"I should ask you the same thing," the blonde shrugged.

Kennedi followed him to his bike. "And I would tell you I'm tracking an excessive radiation signal Cam picked up on the monitors."

"Well," Hunter grabbed something from his bike. "Maybe it has something to do with this." Kennedi recognized it as a piece of Zurgane's sword. "I found it out here. It's one of Zurgane's swords. But he wouldn't leave the ship without it."

"Not alive, anyway," Kennedi muttered, looking it over.

* * *

Once they got back to Ninja Ops, Cam had called the other rangers there to discuss what they had found. They were all a bit surprised to learn Zurgane's sword wasn't with Zurgane and that it was only a piece of it. Cam had the laptop open on the table in front of everyone so they could see information he dug up. Something wasn't making sense, and it was up to the rangers to figure it out.

"After they found the sword," Cam began. "I located a satellite picture of the area." He pushed a button, and a clip played of Zurgane being destroyed by Vexacus.

"It's true, rangers," Sensei confirmed. "Vexacus has destroyed Zurgane."

"Not that I'm going to miss Zurgane," Tori spoke up. "But why would Vexacus do that?"

"It appears that a power struggle is at play in Lothor's lair," Sensei concluded.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Dustin wondered. "I mean, maybe they'll just keep fighting each other until no one's left."

Sensei nodded. "That is possible, Dustin. But I suspect Lothor has an even more sinister plot in mind."

"So what do we do next?" Shane asked.

"The time has come to face the enemy proactively," Sensei declared. "We must reinforce our ranks by rescuing all the captured ninjas. We must find a way to get onto Lothor's ship."

"Something that won't be easy," Kennedi muttered.

"Lothor's ship is protected by a powerful energy field," Cam recalled. "Without some way to break through, we'll never get in."

"Leave that to me," the crimson ranger assured before walking out. This earned him confused glances around the room, even from Kennedi and Blake.

* * *

The alarms had gone off and the rangers made their way to the quarry, where Vexacus was attacking with his bird brained monster, Condortron. They had seen Hunter fighting them off on the mainframe, having been there when they attacked. The others morphed on their way over, hoping to give him a helping hand. Cam had found traces of the radiation he had been tracking earlier, which meant something wasn't right.

When they arrived on the scene using the tsunami cycles, Kennedi riding with Tori and Cam riding with Shane, they found Hunter struggling to stand up. They stopped near him, letting the green and orange rangers off and Hunter stood. Kelzaks and Motodrome appeared as well. The Kelzaks charged, prompting the rangers to do the same.

Tori and Blake headed to fight off Motodrome. Shane and Dustin took on the Kelzaks, since there weren't a whole lot there. Cam, Hunter, and Kennedi dealt with Condortron, since none of them had bikes present. The bird flew by and knocked Cam down. Kennedi huffed. "Ninja glider bike!" she called, her bike appearing before them. She hopped on and began chasing after the bird. "Flight mode, engage!"

She took the fight against Condortron into the sky, chasing him. She let the others handle things down below. Vexacus fired at the bike, causing it to malfunction a bit. It allowed Condortron to smack into the bike as well, sending Kennedi spiraling down into the ground. "Kennedi!" Hunter shouted, worried for his girlfriend. He ran over to the wreckage.

"Kennedi," he breathed, seeing she was fine. He helped her to her feet.

"I'm okay," she assured. Motodrome and the Kelzaks fled from the scene, having enough of the fight. Vexacus sent the bird alien back to the ship, making it so only he was fighting the rangers. Kennedi and Hunter joined the others as Condortron flew off.

"Any last words?" Vexacus cackled.

"Yeah," Cam huffed. "Super samurai mode!" The vest on his suit popped off and the helmet changed. Vexacus fired at them, locking them in a hold with some sort of string he shot them with. He lifted them in the air and smashed them into each other. After a couple minutes of that, he dropped them. "What do you want?"

Vexacus attacked Cam before replying, drawing the green ranger closer so he could attack. He tossed Cam aside as the others stood ready to fight. Vexacus drew his sword, prompting the others to draw theirs. The six other rangers charged Vexacus. The fish alien seemed to not be affected by most of their attacks, throwing them back when he could. He vanished before reappearing with his land shark attack, knocking the rangers around.

"You didn't think I'd leave without saying goodbye?" Vexacus smirked, reappearing on the ground. "With or without the gem, I will defeat you!" He vanished before they could do anything.

"What gem?" Kennedi frowned, turning to Hunter as their visors opened. "What did he mean, Hunter?"

Hunter only looked down.

* * *

"The Gem of Souls," Hunter spoke as the team stood around the bookshelf in Ninja Ops. Kennedi was confused as to what was going on, having not been there when the rangers originally found this particular gem. Blake appeared to be upset at his brother. The crimson ranger held the gem shards in a cloth on his hand.

"But I threw it into the ocean," Cam recalled.

"Not all of them," Hunter opened the package.

"You should've told me, Hunter," Blake glared as his brother.

"You didn't know about this?" Tori looked to him.

Blake shook his head. "No. And we're going to have a long talk why, aren't we bro?"

"I was gonna tell you," Hunter assured. "But the more time that passed, the harder it got. I'm sorry."

"Those fragments must be the source of the radiation I was tracking," Cam realized. "It had nothing to do with Zurgane's sword."

"After Lothor shattered the gem," Hunter continued. "I hid these two pieces out there. I'd go out there every now and again to find out if they'd help me contact my parents."

"I understand that sometimes your loss is difficult to accept," Sensei went on. "But what's done is done. You can never go back in time."

"Not without a scroll or something," Dustin casually mentioned.

Hunter sighed. "I know my parents are gone, but I still miss them. And those students on Lothor's ship…someone misses them, too. But it's not too late for them. Let's bring 'em back."

* * *

After Cam had left for Lothor's ship, the rangers gathered around the monitor, Kennedi sitting in the chair. Sensei was on the desk. They were keeping an eye on Cam's progress and waiting for the okay to teleport onto the ship. Kennedi was still confused about the gem, wanting to hear the story behind it. She knew now was not the time to ask. The rangers grinned as Cam made it into space. However, they became worried when Cam got hit.

"Cam!" Shane shouted. "Cam, come in!"

"_I'm hit," _the green ranger replied. _"But I'm okay. My bigger problem is, if I don't get closer, I'll never be able to break through the energy field."_

The monitors beeped, showing a giant Condortron in the city. "Uh oh," Blake sighed. "The big bird is back."

"We have to call the zords," Shane declared.

"We can't leave Cam out there," Hunter pointed out.

"You forget that I don't have a zord," Kennedi pointed out. "I can keep an eye on him with Sensei and Cyber Cam."

Sensei agreed. "The rest of you must take the zords and face Condortron."

"Let's go," Tori nodded. The other five rangers ran out of the room as Kennedi sent the zords, having learned how to do so with all the time she spent in Ninja Ops during zord fights.

"_I've armed the drill nose with the Gem of Souls," _Cam reported once the others were already fighting. _"I think it's opened a portal I can teleport through."_

"Then you know what I'm going to say," Sensei stated.

"_Don't worry," _Cam assured. _"This time, I will be careful."_

"You do know that every time someone says not to worry, it's the perfect time to worry?" Kennedi raised an eyebrow. Cam ignored her as he broke through the shield on Lothor's ship.

A few minutes later, Cam spoke. _"Teleport the others to these coordinates." _Kennedi shared a look with Sensei.

"You must return at once," Sensei instructed. "Kennedi will take over for you while you help the others in the zord fight."

"_Got it," _Cam agreed.

Cyber Cam pushed a few buttons while Kennedi morphed. In a few seconds, Kennedi was gone and Cam was with the other rangers.

* * *

"Whoa, creepy," Kennedi muttered as she found herself on Lothor's ship, right where Cam had stood. She looked around the room, looking for the other ninjas. She turned around and spotted a giant bubble that held all the other ninjas in bubbles inside it. A control panel for it was standing in front of it, and Kennedi walked toward it. Before she could get far, she heard something behind her and spun around just in time to see Lothor enter with a bunch of Kelzaks.

"I was expecting my nephew," Lothor frowned. "No matter. You'll do instead, orange ranger. It's so nice for you rangers to visit. Why don't you stay…forever?"

"Not a chance," Kennedi huffed.

She began fighting off the oncoming Kelzaks, trying to stick close to the trapped ninja students. If she could somehow cause the panel to malfunction, then it could set a couple ninjas free. The Kelzaks tried knocking her down, but she wouldn't allow it. The orange ranger continued fighting them off, never once drawing her sword to do so. She charged Lothor, which proved to be a mistake when she was knocked down. Lothor shot her back into a pillar across from the ninja students, causing the device to get back home to fly out of her grasp.

With a huff, she stood and began fighting off Kelzaks once more. She managed to get to the device and pick it up, but it was knocked out of her hand before she could do anything. Kelzaks blocked her way to it, so she drew her bow and began firing. When she had a clear path, she fired right at the control panel, causing it to spark a bit before exploding.

"No!" Lothor cried as the ninja students were released and sent back to Earth. Kennedi smirked beneath her helmet. "You will pay!"

Before she could get back home, she was knocked out.

* * *

Sensei had watched both fights on the mainframe. He had seen the rangers take down Condortron, and he had also seen Kennedi be taken hostage by Lothor. The guinea pig knew this wasn't going to end well and prepared an explanation for the rangers. With him in Ninja Ops were the two other senseis from the other two academies, both human and free. Sensei Omino and Sensei Huron both stood by Sensei Watanabe at the mainframe, waiting for the rangers to return. The other ninja students that had been freed had been sent home to see their families.

When the rangers came back, they spotted the three senseis and realized something good must've happened. The only thing they were wondering was where Kennedi was. Cam had told them he and she swapped spots, meaning she had gone to Lothor's ship to try and free the students while he helped them out. With Kennedi not in sight, they began to fear the worst.

"Rangers," Sensei spoke, getting their attention. "There is some good news, and some bad news."

"What's the good news?" Shane wondered.

"As you can probably tell by Sensei Huron and Sensei Omino's presence," Sensei continued. "Cam and Kennedi's efforts to free the other ninja students has worked."

"And the bad news?" Hunter prompted, fearing the worst.

Sensei Huron decided to speak up, since it was about her student. "While in the process of rescuing us, Kennedi has been taken hostage by Lothor."

None of the rangers knew what to say.

* * *

A/N: So up next is the final chapter. What'll happen? Will Kennedi be saved?


	14. Storm Before the Calm

**New Girl**

**Chapter 14: Storm Before the Calm**

_A/N: Last time, Kennedi freed the ninja students on Lothor's ship, only to be kidnapped herself. The others are worried about her now that they know this. It's time for the final battle, and the rangers are ready to do whatever it takes to get back safe and sound and get rid of Lothor for good. What'll happen when they have to go on a rescue mission while they have to finish off Lothor once and for all? _

_So after about a week, I'm finally updating this again with the last chapter. The past week has been tough with school, homework, and work. I was going to update this yesterday, but I passed out as soon as I hit the bed. I worked until 8:30 PM yesterday, got home, couldn't find my wristlet (which had my license in it), drove back to where I worked (thankfully just a few minutes away from my house), asked if anyone saw it, found it in my car somehow trapped between the passenger seat and passenger side door, came home, saw the bunny I had hit on my way back to work (it came out way too fast for me to stop and there was a guy like right behind me), ate dinner, showered (because I had gym and was all sweaty), and finally fell asleep around 10. _

_Anyway, let's get on with this chapter._

_Thanks so much for reviews, reading, favoriting, anything!_

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

A few days had passed, and there was no news on Kennedi. The rangers knew that she was the only one on Lothor's ship right now, and Hunter was deeply worried about her. Just like when they first heard news of the Ember Academy being attacked, Hunter refused to be anywhere near the others, wanting to be alone. They all understood this, having seen how much Hunter and Kennedi cared about each other. While the two didn't go on many dates or do many couple like things, they could all see the love there.

Cam had been with the three other Senseis, monitoring Lothor's whereabouts and trying to keep track of what was going on. He had told the rangers that as soon as they figured out what exactly was going on with Kennedi being on Lothor's ship, he would let them know. At the moment, it was the best they could hope for. The only other problem with that was coming up with a believable excuse to tell Kelly. Dustin hadn't said anything to her, and the red head knew something must've been up.

Now, Shane was at Storm Chargers, talking to Kelly about something as Dustin was picking up a delivery outside. Despite what was going on in the ranger world, there was some exciting news to be shared, and the two at the counter knew no one would be more excited about it than Dustin. The brunette entered the store, not looking too happy.

"I can't believe this!" he huffed. "I ask for four stroke oil, they send me this two stroke stuff. Bah! What am I supposed to do with that?" Shane and Kelly laughed. "What? What's so funny?"

"Hey, look," Shane walked over, a grin on his face. "Forget about the oil and pack your bags."

"Why?" Dustin wondered. "Where are we going?"

"You wanted to freestyle?" Kelly walked over to the yellow ranger. "Well, guess what. You're gonna get your chance." She handed him papers. "Fill it out and sign it. We have to get it in straight away if you want to make the deadline."

Dustin took the papers and read it over before grinning. "This is for the US Action Games! Are you serious?"

"Yeah," Kelly nodded. "And by the way, under sponsor, write Storm Chargers."

"Sponsor?" Dustin grinned, turning to Shane who was standing on the couches. "Hey, did you know about this?"

"I'm going too!" Shane danced around. "For skateboard, baby! Yeah!"

The yellow ranger turned to Tori, who was just walking in. "Hey, Tori, check it out!"

"Oh, Kelly's sponsoring you to go to the US Action Games in freestyle," Tori spoke.

"Yeah," Dustin's grin fell. "How'd you know?"

"She showed me this morning," the blonde shrugged, going to join Shane on the couches.

"Guys, guess what," Dustin looked to Hunter and Blake, both who entered.

Blake nodded. "Yeah, I know. US Action Games, right?"

"That's awesome," Hunter agreed, the two moving over to the couches. Dustin followed them.

"So let me get this straight," he continued. "Everybody knew except me? Is that about right?"

"Yeah, that's about right," Tori confirmed.

Dustin shook his head and turned to Blake. "Hey, didn't you test today for Roger Hannah, the Factory Blue sponsorship?"

"That's right," Tori recalled. "How'd that go?"

"There was a photographer there from _Dirt Works _magazine," Hunter explained. "Said he hasn't seen anyone test that fast since McGrath in '91."

"So what's the deal?" the earth ninja wondered.

"Well, factory ride if I want it," Blake grinned.

"Why wouldn't you want it?" Dustin questioned.

Blake turned serious. "Come on. Don't you think we're a little busy around here?"

"Yeah, but how can you pass up an opportunity like that?" Shane wondered.

"That's what I told him," Hunter agreed.

Kelly came over, looking deadly serious. This confused the rangers, as she was just happy moments ago when they all walked in. "All right," she spoke, getting their attention. "I want to know where Kennedi is, and I want the truth."

"Um…" Shane looked to his fellow rangers, all who didn't know how to answer. However, Dustin did.

"She may have gotten taken hostage by Lothor," he bit his lip. This earned him smacks upside the head from his four present teammates.

"Of course she did," Kelly huffed. "And you guys are doing nothing to find her?"

"What are you talking about?" Tori pretended to not know anything.

"Dudes, it's fine," Dustin assured. "She's known about us for a while now."

"Dude, you told her?" Blake accused.

Kelly cut in. "He didn't have to tell me anything. I knew since you two became rangers," she pointed to Hunter and Blake. "Why do you think I haven't fired you guys yet for all the times you've run out on me?"

The rangers all shared a look.

* * *

The next day, the rangers found themselves arriving at the US Action Games. The three Senseis thought it was a good idea for all the rangers to go to this, hoping it would take some stress off their minds. They still hadn't found anything on Kennedi, and there was nothing new on what Lothor was possibly planning. For now, though, the rangers just wanted to relax. Kelly pulled the Storm Chargers van into a spot and they all hopped out, taking in the crowd and excitement.

"You guys better check in," Kelly advised. "I'll make sure your gear's okay."

"We'll check the place out for, uh…"

"Let me guess," Tori interrupted the red ranger. "Chicks?"

"Now that you mention it," Shane grinned, spotting a cute red head go by.

"Come on," Cam offered. "I'll cruise with you."

"Cyber Cam?" Blake questioned as the six began to move into the park.

Cam rolled his eyes but kept a smile on his face. "Not Cyber Cam. Who says real Cam can't cruise?"

* * *

Kennedi knew what was going on. Ever since rescuing the ninjas a few days ago, she had been held hostage on Lothor's ship. It had given her a lot of time to observe things that happened on the ship from where she was being kept. Her hands were tied to a pillar so she would try to escape or anything, and it had proven tough when trying to do certain things.

She had also noticed something odd about Marah and Kapri lately. They had been unusually nice to her when it was just the three girls alone. They had untied her hands so she could eat what they brought her, and so she could go to the bathroom when need be. The two made sure she was kept in top health. The orange ranger was unsure if doing so was part of some plan, or if they were pretending to be evil the entire time the war against Lothor had been going on.

Earlier in the day, she had heard them talking with Lothor about the Abyss of Evil, something she knew would spell trouble for her teammates. The dirty blonde had managed to catch all the important details, and she knew she should try and find a way out to warn her teammates. At the moment, Kapri and Marah had gone to check out the Abyss of Evil, and Kennedi knew her friends would realize something was up, since the Abyss was close enough to where the Action Games were being held.

With a sigh, she thought of how she could let the others know what was going on.

* * *

The rangers minus Cam and Kennedi were all in the stands at the Action Games. Kelly was with them, noting how they all looked anxious. After an attack from Kapri and Marah, Cam and Hunter had gathered the others and told them about the area they were interested in. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but Cam went back to Ninja Ops to check things out. It was quiet for them until they heard a cell phone going off.

"Hello?" Tori answered hers, wondering who would be calling her now.

"_Tori?" _Kira's voice floated over the line. The girls had exchanged numbers, having become close since they met. _"It's Kira. I got some information from Ken that might be useful."_

"What kind of information?" Tori wondered. This questioned drew the others' attention to her.

"_Ken somehow tapped into my mind and told me a few things that might be helpful to you guys," _Kira explained. _"Don't know how she did it, but that's not important."_

Tori sighed. "So what do you got?"

"_Well," _Kira bit her lip. _"I take it you guys know she's on Lothor's ship, so I'll spare that detail. Anyway, she said something about hearing Lothor mention an Abyss of Evil, which is near where the Action Games are being held."_

"That must be what Kapri and Marah were after," Tori concluded. This confused the guys.

"_She also said that those two were acting really weird," _Kira added. _"She said that they had been nothing but nice to her since she'd been taken hostage. She's not sure if it's part of some evil plan or if they're showing that they've been pretending to be evil the whole time, but she knows that they've been acting really weird for them."_

"It does sound weird," Tori agreed, frowning. "Well, I gotta go, but if you get anything else like that from her, let me know." Kira assured her she would and the girls hung up. Before Tori could say anything, their morphers went off.

"Go for Shane," the red ranger answered.

Cam's voice spoke. _"Rangers, I'm sending the zords to you. There's a big fish in a little pond you need to deal with."_

* * *

Kennedi wasn't sure how much time had passed since she had given her sister a message to pass on to her teammates. All she knew now was that Lothor, Marah, and Kapri were gone, doing something that involved Ninja Ops. Vexacus was off fighting the rangers, and Kennedi knew that if they destroyed him, it would cause the Abyss of Evil to open and explode. It was quiet until she heard voices. She looked up and saw Cam being dragged in by Lothor, Marah, and Kapri. Kelzaks tied his hands on the pillar Kennedi was at so the two rangers were next to each other.

"You won't get away with this, Lothor," Cam huffed. "Whatever you're doing, it won't work."

"Oh, ye of little faith," Lothor scoffed. "Is that any way to talk to your uncle?" He flipped open a scroll, letting the two ninjas see it.

"The scroll of destiny," Cam gasped. "That's been missing from the Wind Ninja Academy for years."

"Before our ceremonious meeting in the past," Lothor explained. "I borrowed it to ensure my future. It's the key to my master plan."

Kennedi looked amused. "You based your master plan on some beat up old piece of paper that doesn't even tell you the outcome?"

"This beat up old piece of paper has accurately predicted everything," Lothor growled. "See this part near the bottom? That's where I destroy Earth once and for all."

"Aren't you missing something?" Cam wondered, noticing how it was torn. "Where's the rest of the scroll?"

"Nice try," Lothor smirked. "But save it. I know exactly what happens next." He took the samurai amulet off of Cam. "It's payback time, nephew."

* * *

A while later, Kennedi and Cam struck up a conversation, trying to figure out how to get out of the ship before something bad happened. Cam told her about what happened to Ninja Ops after she had filled him in on what went wrong in rescuing the ninjas. She also told him the strange things that had been happening with Marah and Kapri. At the moment, they were watching Lothor drain the energy from the samurai amulet.

"That's right," he grinned. "Drain all its precious energy."

"I've set the self destruct mechanism on the ship's bridge, sir," Choobo declared as he walked in. "Just like you ordered."

"Excellent," Lothor smirked.

"Yeah, uncle, what about us?" Marah wondered.

"What about you?" he asked.

Kapri shrugged. "Well, now that we're really…evil, don't we get to play a part in your ultimate victory?"

"Now that you're evil," Lothor corrected. "I suppose I can't really trust you, can I? You were a little bit too enthusiastic when you were plotting with Shimazu against me!"

"But uncle," Marah defended them. "You told us to do that!"

"Remember?" Kapri added. "We were all in it together to trick Vexacus into trying to get rid of your generals?"

"Yes, yes," the evil ninja nodded. "We had to make sure the Abyss was at maximum capacity. But, you know, there's always room for two more! Choobo!" Kelzaks grabbed Marah and Kapri, dragging them to a pillar near Cam and Kennedi and tying their hands to it.

It had taken a little while after Marah and Kapri were tied up for Lothor and Choobo to leave the room. Lothor had gone down to attack the rangers. Marah and Kapri couldn't believe their uncle turned on them, but Cam and Kennedi expected as much. The two rangers couldn't help but wonder what their teammates were doing and if they were all right.

"I thought they'd never leave," Kennedi huffed, calling on her fire powers to burn the ropes holding her hands.

"This way," they heard Hunter call. He and Blake entered the room just as Kennedi burned off the last of the ropes around her hands. "Ken, Cam!" the two ran over to them to check on them.

"Thanks, guys," Cam thanked as Blake undid the ties.

"Hey!" Mara called. "You can't just leave us here."

"Why should we?" Hunter asked.

Cam sighed. "Because they're family." Kennedi rolled her eyes and burned off the ties holding Marah and Kapri. The ship rattled as the first part of the self destruct was deployed.

"We got to get out of here," Blake stated. They tried to leave, but Choobo blocked their path. Kelzaks joined him.

"I see you have some new friends," he spotted the two extra ninjas. "This should be fun."

"For old times' sake?" Hunter looked to the other two who could morph.

Both smirked and nodded. "Thunder Storm…"

"Ember Storm…"

"Ranger Form!"

* * *

Getting out of the ship had been tricky, but the rangers had done it. Once they did so, they gathered the other ninja students to help out in the fight against Lothor. From what they knew so far, the others were already fighting and it wasn't exactly looking good. Lothor had just brought back all his generals and a few more aliens to help destroy the rangers. The three wind rangers became surrounded by them all, no escape available.

Kennedi spotted this as she flew in on her glider cycle in flight mode. She fired at the aliens. "Mind if I play through?" she called.

"You will never stop me!" Lothor shouted.

"But we will," Blake called. They all turned to see a morphed Hunter and Blake standing before all the ninja students that had been rescued a few days prior. Kennedi got off her bike and joined the wind rangers.

Shane had called on his Battlizer to help in the fight. The rangers did the best they could for as long as they could. By working together, they managed to get it down to just Lothor that they needed to fight off. Lothor absorbed all their powers into the samurai amulet, making it so they couldn't morph. From there, the rangers had attacked him, pushing him closer and closer to the abyss. To finish him off, the three wind rangers combined their powers to destroy Lothor once and for all, locking him in the abyss.

* * *

The following day, once the Action Games were officially over, the rangers were all at the Wind Ninja Academy, graduating from their schools. The ceremony had been short, since there were only seven of them graduating. It had been a good day for the rangers, and it marked a time to celebrate. Now that the ceremony was over, the rangers split off to talk to each other. Cam went with his dad to welcome new students while Blake and Tori talked. Hunter and Kennedi were talking as well, heading to find the other couple.

"So what's going to happen now?" Hunter wondered, his arm around his girlfriend as walked.

"Well, I'm staying here for a while," Kennedi shrugged. "I wanna play fall ball for Blue Bay, but once second semester comes, I have to move to Reefside so I can graduate with Kira. What about you?"

Hunter sighed. "I have a bit of a dilemma. I start training to go into the army, but Sensei Omino made me head teacher at the academy."

"You'll figure it out," a new voice cut in, and they turned to see that Tori and Blake had joined them, the latter haven spoken.

"Hey," Shane called as he and Dustin approached. "You guys ready to do this?"

* * *

A/N: So this is the end of this story. Keep an eye out for the Dino Thunder sequel, **Double Act. **

Thanks for reading and reviewing! Sorry it's a short story!


End file.
